Minoress

English

Alternative forms

• minoress

Etymology

From Medieval Latin minorissa, from Latin minor (“little, lesser”) + -issa (“-ess”), under influence from Norman frere-menouresse and Middle French sereur meneuresse (“lesser sister”), from menour (“minor”) + -esse (“-ess”), after the model of Medieval Latin Fratres Minores (“Lesser Brothers”), chosen by St. Francis to inculcate humility in the order's members. Equivalent to minor +‎ -ess. Doublet of minoress and Sister Minor.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪnərəs/, /ˈmaɪnəˌrɛs/, /ˈmaɪˌnɔrəs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmʌɪnərɪs/, /mʌɪnəˈrɛs/

Noun

Minoress (plural Minoresses)

1. (Catholicism) Synonym of Poor Clare: a nun of the Order of Saint Clare.
   • 1395, Alice West, last will and testement, p. 3:

     Also I. bequethe to the Religiouse Wommen the Menouresses dwellyngge witħoute algate of london̄, C. s. to be departed amonge [hem] by euene porcion̄, for to synge and rede and to praye diuine seruice for my lordes soule Sir Thomas West, and myn, and for alle christene soules, and for the estates of Thomas my sone, and Iohane his wyf, and for her children.

   • 1631, John Weever, Ancient Funerall Monuments, page 755:

     These Nunnes were of the order of S. Clare, and called Minoresses.

   • 1759, Alban Butler, The Lives of the... Saints, volume IV, page 87:

     The chief house of the Clares in England stood near Aldgate; it was built by Blanche, queen of Navarre, and her husband Edmund, earl of Lancaster, Leicester and Darby, son to Henry III. and brother to Edward I. These nuns were Urbanists, and enjoyed revenues. They were called Clares or Minoresses, and their house the Minories...

Derived terms

• Sister Minoress

References

• “Minoress, n¹.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, 2022.
• “Minoress”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.