A prioress is the woman in charge of a priory — a religious house, usually for nuns, smaller than an abbey. She is the woman equivalent of a prior. The word belongs to church life and to old stories; you will not hear it about a modern office boss. An abbess runs an abbey, which is typically a bigger house; a prioress runs a priory. Though actually, in real church history the jobs can sit close together, and English class often meets the word through Chaucer's Prioress — a nun in a story, not a word for everyday Taiwan.