Definition of "governess" []

• A woman employed to educate and train the children of a private household. (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.

• "The word governess appealed to him; it meant that she had to do with wealthy people, at least."
• ""A governess is a very nice thing," said the doctor, taking off his hat and leaning back against the iron railing, – "if she knows properly how to set people to play.""
• "Surprises are tucked here and there on the half-acre property - a treehouse enveloped by a Norway spruce, for example, and a weeping katsura tree that arches over a sandstone block she calls her governess bench."