CHATELAINE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does chatelaine mean? 

• CHATELAINE (noun)
  The noun CHATELAINE has 2 senses:

1. the mistress of a chateau or large country house

2. a chain formerly worn at the waist by women; for carrying a purse or bunch of keys etc.

  Familiarity information: CHATELAINE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHATELAINE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The mistress of a chateau or large country house

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("chatelaine" is a kind of...):

mistress (a woman master who directs the work of others)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A chain formerly worn at the waist by women; for carrying a purse or bunch of keys etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("chatelaine" is a kind of...):

chain (a series of (usually metal) rings or links fitted into one another to make a flexible ligament)

 Context examples 

Daisy found it impossible to keep her eyes off her 'pitty aunty', but attached herself like a lap dog to the wonderful chatelaine full of delightful charms.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Nay, lady, said du Guesclin, it does not befit so great and wondrous a power to pry and search and play the varlet even to the beautiful chatelaine of Villefranche.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“My sweet bird,” said Sir Nigel, “I am right loth to part from you, but we are now at the fringe of the forest, and it is not right that I should take the chatelaine too far from her trust.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)