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Glite Dictionary
jointress

jointress

1 9.9
A woman who has a right to keep land after her husband's death
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒɔɪntrəs/
  • Archaic
translation icon : jointura

Examples

  • Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen, the imperial jointress to this warlike state, have we, as 'twere with a defeated joy...

    Hamlet (2000)

  • Therefore our sometime sister, now our queen... the imperial jointress to this warlike state... have we, as 'twere with a defeated joy... with one auspicious and one dropping eye... with mirth in funeral and with dirge in marriage... taken to wife.

    Hamlet (1990)

  • As a jointress, she inherited much of her husband's estate after his passing.

  • The court recognized her as the jointress, granting her full rights to the property left by her late husband.

  • Under the marriage settlement, the jointress was entitled to half of the family land upon her husband's death.

Surface Forms

jointress singular
jointresses plural

Morphology

jointress = joint (opaque) = joint + ress

The term is a specialized legal designation (female holder of a jointure) and the combination of 'joint' + feminine suffix '-ress' does not allow an average learner to infer this legal meaning.

Etymology

Jointress comes from joint ('joined' or 'shared') and the feminine ending -ress (as in actress). So a jointress is a woman who 'shares' or keeps property as part of a marriage agreement, often keeping the estate after her husband's death.