abbesse

l'abbesse (FR N-F) Mother Superior (female leader) of a convent of nuns. European monastic communities for women date to the fourth century. An abbess has supreme »domestic« authority over her charge in the convent, but, as a female, has no power of spiritual jurisdiction, which belongs only to an abbot. By the 18th century, abbesses had a reputation for eating well, and Voltaire (1694 – 1778) often wrote the expression »grasse comme une abbesse« (as fat as an abbess). »Abbesse« also entered…