[a. F. châtelaine, fem. of châtelain.]
1. A female castellan; the mistress of a castle or country house.
1855. M. Arnold, Tristram & Iseult. The youngest fairest chatelaine That this realm of France can boast.
1861. Lady Chatterton, in Mem. Adm. Gambier, I. iv. 52. A good châtelaine and true, of an English country house.
2. An ornamental appendage worn by ladies at their waist, supposed to represent the bunch of keys, etc., of a mediæval châtelaine: it consists of a number of short chains attached to the girdle or belt, etc., bearing articles of household use and ornament, as keys, corkscrew, scissors, pen-knife, pin-cushion, thimble-case, watch, etc., according to taste. (Sometimes applied to a bunch of ornaments worn at a watch-chain.)
1851. Art Jrnl. Catal. Gt. Exhib., 43/1. The modern chatelaine is but a reproduction of an article of decorative ornament, worn by ladies … more than a century and a half ago. The watch, the scissors, etui, pincushion, &c. were then ostentatiously appended to the dress of ladies.
1859. L. Oliphant, Elgin’s Mission, II. 191. [They] tie bundles of charms or chatelaines to their watch-chains.
1872. Baker, Nile Tribut., vi. 85. The women wear a large bunch of charms as a sort of châtelaine.
1883. Cassell’s Fam. Mag., Oct., 698/1. Châtelaine bags are much worn again, but, alas for the contrariness of fashion! so large that they are becoming monstrosities.
