20 May 2018
duenna
[doo-en-uh, dyoo-]
noun
1. (in Spain and Portugal) an older woman serving as escort or chaperon of a young lady.
2. a governess.
Origin of duenna
Spanish Latin
1660-1670; < Spanish duenna (now dueña) < Latin domina, feminine of dominus master
Related forms
duennaship, noun
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for duenna
Historical Examples
She felt that she had been rather remiss in her duties as duenna, and was angry with herself.
Henry Dunbar
M. E. Braddon
It is to be observed the duenna was of a most obliging disposition.
Gomez Arias
Joaqun Telesforo de Trueba y Coso
Then the duenna resumed, and now came the worst of her story.
The Story of Don Quixote
Arvid Paulson, Clayton Edwards, and Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
He told me that O’Brien had the duenna called to his room that morning.
Romance
Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer
They must be torn away at once, or my character as duenna is lost for ever.’
Shawl-Straps
Louisa M. Alcott
The duenna entered, and remained standing before her master.
The Pearl of Lima
Jules Verne
She kept me in sight like a duenna, and strangely ill-treated me.
Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Vol. 13
Elbert Hubbard
Mary’s duenna ;—the artist who is supposed to be moulding the wife.
Orley Farm
Anthony Trollope
That’s her instituted governess, duenna, dragon, what you will.
The Adventures of Harry Richmond, Complete
George Meredith
The Sisters are the only duenna for you; and back to the convent you shall go to-morrow.
Remember the Alamo
Amelia E. Barr
Anagram
an dune
Today’s quote
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal … Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses.
– C.S. Lewis
On this day
20 May 325 – commencement of the First Council of Nicea, a cabal of 1800 bishops convened by Roman Emperor Constantine I (Constantine the Great) to gain consensus within the church for various doctrinal issues, such as the divinity of Christ, the Holy Trinity and the date for Easter which were articulated in the ‘Creed of Nicea’. The Council concluded on 25 August 325.
20 May 1896 – a 6 ton chandlier falls from the ceiling of the Palais Garnier, Paris, onto the crowd below. One person is killed and many injured. The theatre was used as the setting for Gaston Leroux’s novel, Phantom of the Opera.
20 May 1944 – birth of Joe Cocker. English rock and blues singer. His first big hit was in 1968 with his cover of the Beatles song, ‘With a Little Help from my Friends’, which he performed at Woodstock the year later. In 1972, while touring Australia, he and six band members were arrested in Adelaide for possession of cannabis. The following day he was charged with assault following a brawl in Melbourne. Australian Federal Police gave him 48 hours to leave the country and banned him from re-entry. From this he earned the nickname ‘Mad-dog’. The incident raised the profile of cannabis legalisation in Australia. He toured Australia again in 1975, after the new Labor government allowed him back into the country. He won a Grammy Award in 1983 and was awarded an OBE in 2007. Died 22 December 2014.
20 May 1998 – The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) was formally announced. It was formed by major technology companies, Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Toshiba and Nokia to develop a standard low-range radio standard that could connect disparate items, such as phones to headsets, regardless of the manufacturers. After considering a number of names for the technology, including Flirt (with the catchphrase ‘getting close, but not touching’), the SIG settled on the name Bluetooth, which was named after a 10th century Viking king, Harald Blatand, which translates as Bluetooth. He was so named because he had a dead tooth that turned blue from all the blueberries he ate. The name was proposed by Jim Kardach of Intel, who was reading a historical novel about vikings, by Frans G. Bengtsson called The Long Ships. Harald Bluetooth had united disparate Dane tribes to form a united Denmark. The Bluetooth logo is a bind rune which combines the two runic letters H and B, for Harald Bluetooth.