a French noblewoman holding a rank corresponding to that of a British viscountess
vicomtesse in American English
(vikɔ̃ˈtes)
nounWord forms: plural-tesses (-ˈtes)
the wife or widow of a vicomte; a French viscountess
Word origin
[‹ F, equiv. to vicomteviscount + -esse-ess]-ess is a suffix forming distinctively feminine nouns. Other words that use the affix-ess include: canoness, conductress, mistress, peeress, stewardess