comfortressn.
/ˈkʌmfətrᵻs/, /kʌmfəˈtrɛs/, U.S. /ˈkəmfərtrəs/ Now rare.
A female comforter.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > state of being consoled or relieved > [noun] > act, means, or source of consolation or relief > one who or that which consoles or relieves > specific female or usually female
comfortressc1430
consolatricea1513
confortatrice1516
ministering angel1592
relieveress1631
consolatrix1632
c1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode (1869) i. cxlii. 73 Ladi, quod j, ther of shule ye be leche and confortouresse.
a1492 W. Caxton tr. Vitas Patrum (1495) i. xlii. f. lxixv/2 Our lady, Tresorye of grace, comfortresse of desolate.
1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 480 To giue him [sc. Adam] a wife, for a faithful companion, a comfortresse of his life.
1607 B. Jonson Volpone iii. vii. sig. G4v To bee your comfortresse, and to preserue you. View more context for this quotation
1775 J. Fordyce Serm. Young Women (new ed.) Ded. p. vii The comfortress of affliction!
1868 R. A. Coffin tr. Liguori Glories of Mary 81 O comfortress of the afflicted.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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