[f. CHAMPION sb. + -ESS.] A female champion.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., III. xii. 41. Then laid the noble championesse strong hond upon th’enchaunter.
1600. Fairfax, Tasso, II. cviii. The Championesse he thought he saw and knew.
1624. Heywood, Gunaik., II. 75. Poesie, whose inuention is giuen to Calliope, as to the Championesse that defends the standard of the Muses.
1728. Daily Post, 7 July. This present Monday, being the 7th of October, will be a complete Boxing Match between the two following Championesses.
1873. Q. Rev., 187. The … ablest championess of ‘the Rights of Woman,’ Mary Wollstonecraft.
1883. Pall Mall Gaz., 1 Sept., 10/2. Archery in Wiltshire…. Mrs. Eyre Hussey is the championess of the year…, Mr. Clarke being the champion.
