The state or condition of being a governess; the role, period, or social position of a woman employed to educate and care for children in a household.
From 'governess' (a female educator, from 'govern' plus feminine suffix '-ess') plus '-hood' (Old English, meaning state or condition, as in 'childhood' or 'motherhood'). Emerged in the 19th century as a term for this specific Victorian social role.
Governesshood was a complicated position—Victorian governesses were highly educated but treated as servants, mixing between the family and staff; the word itself was invented to describe this weird no-place status that had no equal in male society.
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