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shepherdess

shepherdess

3 6.5
A woman who looks after sheep
  • noun
  • /ˈʃɛpərdɛs/
translation icon : pastora
  • Wearing a straw hat, the shepherdess led the sheep to the barn for the night.

Examples

  • The event is celebrated in a pastoral setting filled with sun and the adoration of Himeneo by shepherds and shepherdesses.

    Academic text (2001)
  • The walls are painted with pastoral idyls: shepherdesses in swings, shepherds playing lutes.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • And here are the children in their shepherdess outfits.

  • She wants to be a shepherdess and take to to the hills.

  • Our patron, Beryl of Sussex, was a simple shepherdess.

  • A shepherdess in Ningxia prepares to give newborn lambs a winter feed of dried corn.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The shakers were brightly painted antique porcelain figures of a rosy-cheeked shepherd and shepherdess, each holding a crook.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • A hundred years before Bushnell gave his speech, New England girls were embroidering frolicking lambs and winsome shepherdesses on needlework pictures and samplers.

    Academic text (2002)
  • Marcela, a wealthy orphan, has chosen to postpone marriage, the unavoidable destiny of countless women characters throughout the ages, and decides to become a shepherdess and tend to her flock free of any commitment to anyone.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The shepherdess watched over her flock as they grazed in the meadow.

Synonyms

shepherd
vsshepherdess
93 1.9

A person who looks after and guides sheep on open land

is specifically a woman and focuses on general care rather than flock guidance
herder
vsshepherdess
15 3.7

A person who looks after and moves animals like sheep or cattle

is specifically a woman focused only on sheep rather than various animals
sheepherder
vsshepherdess
  • US
3 5.6

A person who looks after sheep on open land

is specifically a woman doing this job rather than a gender-neutral worker
pastoralist
vsshepherdess
  • Specialized
1 7.4

A person who raises and looks after grazing animals like cattle or sheep

is a specific paid female job focused on sheep rather than a broad lifestyle
bergère
vsshepherdess
  • Archaic
9.9

A woman who takes care of sheep

is the neutral modern term for the same job
sheepwoman
vsshepherdess
8.1

A woman who looks after sheep in fields

is the broader term for a woman who looks after sheep in any setting
herdswoman
vsshepherdess
7.1

A woman who looks after a group of farm animals like sheep or cattle

is limited to sheep only and excludes other grazing animals

Surface Forms

shepherdess singular
shepherdesses plural

Morphology

shepherdess = shepherd (transparent) = shepherd + ess

The suffix '-ess' clearly denotes a female version of the base word 'shepherd'.

Etymology

Shepherdess comes from old English parts sheep and herd, so a shepherd was originally a 'sheep herder'. The ending -ess marks a woman, as in waitress, so a shepherdess is a woman who looks after sheep.