From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishshepherdessshep‧herd‧ess /ˈʃepədes $ -ərdɪs/ noun [countable] old-fashioned BOTAa woman whose job is to take care of sheep
Examples from the Corpus
shepherdess• Margaret became a shepherdess, during which she was spotted by the governor.• After the visions she'd become a shepherdess of souls, leading them to Our Lady and to repentance.• Also patron of poverty and shepherdesses.• At Charlecote Park in Warwickshire there are lead statues of a shepherd and shepherdess made by him in about 1718.• Also patron of shepherdesses and torture victims.• In real life she'd been a poor shepherdess who lived in a dungeon and had asthma.• Porcelain shepherdess and fleeces white as snow. 