pythoness
noun
Forms pythonesses
- noun A female soothsayer
- noun A female python.
- noun (history) The priestess of the oracle of Apollo at Delphi.
Synonyms
Etymology
See Pythoness.
From python + -ess.
From Late Latin pythonissa, from Ancient Greek Πυθία (Puthía). Compare Pythia.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The priestess who gave oracular answers at Delphi in Greece.
- noun Any woman supposed to have a spirit of divination; a sort of witch. Bp. Hall.
Etymology [L. pythonissa: cf. F. pythonisse. See Pythian.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pythoness”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details