Female brothel keeper. A Madame.
Etymology: Victorian underworld
slang. An abbess (Latin abbatissa, fem. form of
abbas, abbot) is the female superior, or Mother Superior, of an
abbey or convent of nuns. Since the Elizabethan era, nun has been slang for a prostitute (ref. William Faulkner, "Requiem for a Nun"), and a nunnery referred to a brothel.