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Wiktionary

lady

See also: Lady, lądy, and łady

English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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From Middle English lady, laddy, lafdi, lavedi, from Old English hlǣfdīġe (“mistress of a household, wife of a lord, lady”, literally “bread-kneader”), from hlāf (“bread, loaf”) + dīġe (“kneader”), related to Old English dǣġe (“maker of dough”) (whence dey (“dairymaid”)). Compare also lord. More at loaf, dairy, dough. Unrelated to lad.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

lady (plural ladies)

  1. (historical) The mistress of a household.
  2. A woman of breeding or higher class, a woman of authority.
    "I would like the dining room to be fully set by tonight; would you do so?" "Yes, my lady".
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      ‘ […] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”. […]’.
  3. The feminine of lord.
    • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 283, column 2:
      Of all theſe bounds euen from this Line, to this, / With ſhadowie Forreſts, and with Champains rich’d / With plenteous Riuers, and wide-ſkirted Meades / We make thee Lady.
    • 1848, James Russell Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfaul, 6th edition, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, published 1858:
      ’T was the proudest hall in the North Countree,
      And never its gates might opened be,
      Save to lord or lady of high decree […]
  4. A title for someone married to a lord or gentleman.
  5. A title that can be used instead of the formal terms of marchioness, countess, viscountess, or baroness.
  6. (polite or used by children) A woman: an adult female human.
    Please direct this lady to the soft furnishings department.
  7. (in the plural) A polite reference or form of address to women.
    Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to be here today. Follow me, ladies!
  8. (slang) Used to address a female.
    Hey, lady, move your car!
    Hey, ladies, how are you doing?
  9. (informal) A wife or girlfriend; a sweetheart.
  10. A woman to whom the particular homage of a knight was paid; a woman to whom one is devoted or bound.
    • 1666, Edmund Waller, “Instructions to a Painter”, in The Works of Edmund Walker‎[1], Dublin: W. G. Jones, published 1768, page 154:
      The ſoldier here his waſted ſtore ſupplies,
      And takes new valor from the Ladies’ eyes.
  11. (slang) A queen (the playing card).
  12. (attributive, with a professional title) Who is a woman.
    A lady doctor.
    • 1964, James Holledge, Sex and the Australian Teenager, Melbounre: Horwitz Publications, page 15:
      The recent disclosures caused one headmistress of a city college to arrange for sex instructions to be given by a lady doctor to various forms.
  13. (Wicca) Alternative form of Lady.
  14. (archaic) gastric mill, the triturating apparatus in the stomach of a lobster, consisting of calcareous plates; so called from a fancied resemblance to a seated female figure.
  15. (UK, slang) A five-pound note. (Rhyming slang, Lady Godiva for fiver.)
  16. (slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman’s breast.
  17. (chess, slang, rare) A queen.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Translations

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References

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Verb

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lady (third-person singular simple present ladies, present participle ladying, simple past and past participle ladied)

  1. To address as “lady”.
    • 1897, Macmillan’s Magazine, page 13, column 1:
      “ […] When I am dead ye’ll mind I said it, my leddy.” “Ah, Elspeth, but do not lady me; say Christine, just wee Christine. […] ”
    • 1906, Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine: A Popular Journal of General Literature, page 374:
      “I thought you would never come, Lady Mary,” and he kissed her again. “Why will you persist in ladying me? Have I not told you—stop, now, will you?” and she pushed his mouth away. “Have I not told you as many times as you have seen me to call me Mary only?”
    • 1928, The Letters of Mary Nisbet of Dirleton, Countess of Elgin, New York, N.Y.: D Appleton and Company, page 276:
      I see Bey still continues jealous of poor Mou; does she still go by that name? In Greek it means “my” and her Paramanas always called her Lady Mary Mou, so we called her Mou. I hope you admire my teaching you Greek. I beg you will break Bruce of ladying her, if it should grow up with him it would be detestable.
    • 2006, Jim Butcher, Cursor’s Fury: Book Three of the Codex Alera, New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, page 658:
      ‘Then, Lady Placida, there is something I wish to ask of you.’ ‘Only,’ she said sternly, ‘if you stop Ladying me. I have a name, dear.’
    • 2013, Brenda Joyce, A Rose in the Storm, Harlequin, →ISBN, page 130:
      “Lady!” “No, do not ‘lady’ me!” Margaret admonished.
    • 2018, Skye MacKinnon, Winter Princess (Daughter of Winter, Book Two), Peryton Press:
      “How can I help, my lady?” “Stop the ladying. […]”

See also

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English lady, from Middle English lady, from Old English hlǣfdīġe.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lady f (plural ladies or ladys)

  1. lady (wife of a British lord; important woman, usually British)
    Synonyms: dame, madame

Further reading

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Italian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English lady.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lady f (invariable)

  1. lady (wife of a lord; important woman)

Synonyms

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References

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  1. ^ lady in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old English hlǣfdīġe, in turn from hlāf (“bread, loaf”) + *dīġe (“maid”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈlaːdiː(ə)/, /ˈladiː(ə)/
  • (mainly Early ME) IPA(key): /ˈlavdiː(ə)/

Noun

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lady (plural ladies, genitive ladies or lady)

  1. A woman with authority or leadership:
    1. A lady (mistress of a household)
      • c. 1382, John Wycliffe, transl., Wycliffe's Bible, Genesis 16:7–9:
        And whanne the aungel of the Lord hadde foundun hir biside the welle of water in wildirnes, the which is in the / weye of Sur in desert, he seide to hir, Agar, the hand mayden of Saray, whens comyst thow, and whithir gost thow? / The which answeride, Fro the face of Saray my ladi I flee.
        And when the angel of the Lord had found her in the wilderness beside the spring of water, which is in the desert on the way to Shur, he said to her, "Hagar, handmaiden of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?" She answered, "I am fleeing from the face of Sarai, my lady".
    2. A lady (noblewoman or female monarch).
    3. A woman who manages an abbey or inn.
  2. The wife of a noble or monarch.
  3. A polite way to address a noble or honoured woman.
  4. (by extension) Any woman.
  5. A female deity (or the Virgin Mary).

Descendants

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References

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology 1

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Unadapted borrowing from English lady, from Middle English lady, laddy, lafdi, lavedi, from Old English hlǣfdīġe.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lady f (indeclinable)

  1. Lady (aristocratic title for a woman)
  2. lady (wife of a lord)
  3. lady (woman of breeding and authority)

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lady f

  1. inflection of lada:
    1. genitive singular
    2. nominative/accusative/vocative plural

Further reading

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  • lady in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • lady in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English lady.

Noun

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lady f (plural lady)

  1. lady

Spanish

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English lady.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lady f (plural ladies)

  1. lady (wife of a lord; important woman)

Usage notes

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According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

Further reading

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Swedish

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English lady, from Middle English lady, laddy, lafdi, lavedi, from Old English hlǣfdīġe.

Noun

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lady c

  1. Lady (aristocratic title for a woman)
  2. lady (wife of a lord)
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