Definition of "churchwoman" [churchwoman]

• A woman who is a cleric. (noun)
• A woman who is a member of a church. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In the 1980s, he got involved in issues surrounding U.S. policy in El Salvador, this after four churchwoman -- two his dear friends -- were raped and killed by Salvadoran soldiers."
• "On the other hand, Bede's real interest here is presumably Hild and her life as a churchwoman."
• "Yes, Bede's interest is in Hild as a great churchwoman, so his interest in Hereric is just to provide Hild with a suitably noble ancestry and a fulfilled prophecy of a great destiny."