mistresspiecen.
/ˈmɪstrᵻsˌpiːs/, U.S. /ˈmɪstrᵻsˌpis/ An outstanding example of female beauty or accomplishment; a feminine ‘masterpiece’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ability > skill or skilfulness > [noun] > display of skill > an example or production of great skill
masterstick1532
masterpiece1600
master-prize1604
masterwork1617
mistresspiecea1648
chef d'œuvre1780
meisterwerk1964
a1648 Ld. Herbert Life Henry VIII (1649) 175 Mistresse Elizabeth Blunt..was thought, for her rare Ornaments of nature, and education, to be the beauty and Mistresse-peece of her time.
1684 G. S. Anglorum Speculum 383 Rosamund, Daughter of Walter Lord Clifford, was a Mistress-piece of Beauty.
1822 London Lit. Gaz. 21 Dec. 800/3 The ‘Leddy’..is Mrs. Pringle dilated... This last-mentioned character is in its way the master, or shall we say mistress-piece of the author.
1902 Daily Chron. 24 Mar. 5/1 Those who hold his [sc. Sir Walter Besant's] ‘Dorothy Forster’ to be his mistresspiece.
1923 J. Joyce Let. 23 Oct. (1957) I. 206 A friend of his told me that there is a club in the far east where Chinese ladies..meet twice a week to discuss my mistresspiece.
1990 Sunday Tel. 4 Feb. 40/5 The elegant plasterwork in shades of grey and off-white is a masterpiece, or in this case a mistresspiece, of subtlety.
2011 M. Bishop Contemp. French Art 2 154 The many folded paintings..of Danièle Perronne's Journal..we may deem..to be the beautifully intoned but unsung mistress-piece of an entire oeuvre.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1648