chatelaine
/ˈʃatəleɪn
/noun
1 dated A woman in charge of a large house.This is an event in the spirit of the teas once held by Martha Black when she was the chatelaine of the house and her husband was the Commissioner....
- But times have changed and the chatelaine, Lucinda Shaw Stewart, has diversified into other businesses, like so many other members of the landed gentry.
- Anyone who has visited the house in recent years can't fail to have been impressed by its garden and its chatelaine, Marylyn Abbott.
1.1 historical A set of short chains attached to a woman’s belt, used for carrying keys or other items.He could tell Emily was restive, eager to belt on her chatelaine's keys and rush off to primp the cushions....
- Valerian pulled her brown and green prayer beads from her chatelaine chain, bringing them to her lips.
- A good example is the typical late eighteenth-century verge watch attached to a nineteenth-century chatelaine.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from French châtelaine, feminine of châtelain 'castellan', from medieval Latin castellanus (see chatelain).