pauperessn.
/pɔːpəˈrɛs/, /ˈpɔːp(ə)rᵻs/, U.S. /ˈpɔp(ə)rəs/, /ˈpɑp(ə)rəs/ A female pauper.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > poverty > [noun] > poor person > poor person in receipt of relief > woman
beads-woman?1465
pauperess1846
1846 Defiance (Ohio) Democrat 6 Aug. Of how much more benefit to country and mankind, will be the street-born sovereign of New York, than the royal little pauperess of England.
1860 C. Dickens Uncommerc. Traveller in All Year Round 18 Feb. 393/2 The wardswoman: an elderly, able-bodied pauperess.
1946 Dixon (Illinois) Evening Tel. 20 June 13 (title) The princess and the pauperess.
1998 Telegram & Gaz. (Mass.) (Nexis) 3 Aug. c5 The prince and the pauperess are each other's perfect match.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1846