Princesses

How to spell princesses

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce princesses

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does princesses mean?

1. nounMore than one princess; female members of a royal family, or daughters of a monarch.

Princesses in a sentence

• The two princesses rode in the second carriage during the parade.

• The history book devoted a chapter to the forgotten princesses of the dynasty.

Where does princesses come from?

Language of origin: French

This is the plural of 'princess', which English took from the Old French 'princesse', the feminine form of 'prince'. The ultimate source is the Latin 'princeps', meaning 'first in rank' or 'chief', built from 'primus' (first) and 'capere' (to take), so a prince was literally the one who takes first place. The feminine ending '-ess' arrived through French, where it descends from the Latin '-issa', itself borrowed from a Greek feminine suffix. English began using 'princess' in the 1300s, and forming its plural simply meant stacking the plural '-es' onto a word that already ended in '-ess', which is exactly why writers hesitate over how many letter s's the finished word needs. The same 'princeps' root also gives us 'principal' and 'principle', a reminder of how widely this little Latin word for 'chief' has spread.

How the word is built

• prince (chief, ruler)
• -ess (feminine suffix)
• -es (plural ending)