[f. STEWARD sb. + -ESS1.] A female who performs the duties of a steward; also fig.
1631. Celestina, xxi. 198. O variable fortune … thou Ministresse and high Stewardesse of all temporal happinesse.
1827. Carlyle, Germ. Rom., III. 212. She was his … Castle-Stewardess.
1865. Gladstone, in Morley, Life, V. x. (1903), II. 160. Her [sc. the church’s] high office as stewardess of divine truth.
b. Now chiefly: A female attendant on a ship whose duty it is to wait on the women passengers.
1837. Ht. Martineau, Soc. Amer., II. 2. Mrs. F. and I were the only ladies on board; and there was no stewardess.
1885. Times, 21 Sept., 10/1. There were five females among the passengers, including the stewardess.
