The Collaborative International Dictionary
Feme \Feme\ (f[e^]m or f[a^]m), n. [OF. feme, F. femme.] (Old
Law)
A woman.
--Burrill.
Feme covert (Law), a married woman. See Covert, a., 3.
Feme sole (Law), a single or unmarried woman; a woman who has never been married, or who has been divorced, or whose husband is dead.
Feme sole trader or Feme sole merchant (Eng. Law), a married woman, who, by the custom of London, engages in business on her own account, inpendently of her husband.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"married woman" (legalese), c.1600, French, from Old French feme coverte, second element fem. of covert "covered" (see covert). Contrasted to feme sole.
Wiktionary
n. (context legal now chiefly historical English) A married woman.
Usage examples of "feme covert".
After all, as a widow she was now a 'feme sole' according to our laws, no longer a 'feme covert'.