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pythoness

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py⋅tho⋅ness

  [pahy-thuh-nis, pith-uh-]
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–noun
1. a woman believed to be possessed by a soothsaying spirit, as the priestess of Apollo at Delphi.
2. a woman who practices divination.
Origin:
1325–75; python 2 + -ess; r. ME phytonesse < MF

Usage note:
See -ess.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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py·tho·ness   (pī'thə-nĭs, pĭth'ə-)   
n.  

  1. Greek Mythology A priestess of Apollo at Delphi.

  2. A prophetess.


[Middle English phitonesse, from Old French phitonise, from Late Latin pȳthonissa, from Greek Pūthōn, Python; see Python.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

pythoness 
1375, "woman with the power of soothsaying," from O.Fr. phitonise (13c.), from L.L. pythonissa, used in Vulgate of the Witch of Endor (I Sam. xxviii. 7), and often treated as her proper name, lit. fem. of pytho "familiar spirit;" which ultimately is connected with the title of the prophetess of the Delphic Oracle, Gk. pythia hiereia, from Pythios, an epithet of Apollo, from Pytho, older name of the region of Delphi (see python).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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