A woman; always with some qualifying word. The N.E.D. gives examples from the 14th c. to 1694, with the adjectives precious, proud, mighty, crazed, tender, forward.

1

1866.  I wonder if she is a proud, stuck-up piece.—Seba Smith, ‘’Way Down East,’ p. 341.

2

  [See also Appendix XXIII.]

3