lady

English Online Dictionary. What means lady‎? What does lady mean?

English

Etymology

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈleɪdi/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): [ˈleɪ.ɾi]
• Rhymes: -eɪdi
• Hyphenation: la‧dy

Noun

lady (plural ladies)

1. (historical) The mistress of a household.
2. A woman of breeding or higher class, a woman of authority.
3. The feminine of lord.
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.

7. (in the plural) A polite reference or form of address to women.
8. (slang) Used to address a female.

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.
11. (slang) A queen (the playing card).
12. (attributive, with a professional title) Who is a woman.
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

• English terms starting with “lady”

Related terms

• fakaleitī
• Lady

Descendants

Translations

References

• Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. →ISBN

Verb

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

1. To address as “lady”.

See also

• lord
• gentleman
• ladies' room
• broad

Anagrams

• DALY, Daly, Dyal, Lyda, layd, yald

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛ.di/ ~ /le.di/

Noun

lady f (plural ladies or ladys)

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

   Synonyms: dame, madame

Further reading

• “lady”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English lady.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.di/, /ˈle.di/
• Rhymes: -ɛdi, -edi

Noun

lady f (invariable)

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

Synonyms

• dama, donna (archaic), signora

References

Middle English

Alternative forms

• laddy, ladi, ladie, ladij, ladye, lavedi, lefdi, lefdy, levedi, levedy, lhevedi
• (early ME) lafdi, laffdiȝ, læfdi, lævedi, leafdi

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

Noun

lady (plural ladies, genitive ladies or lady)

1. A woman with authority or leadership:
   1. A lady (mistress of a household)
   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

• English: lady (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: lady, leddy
• Yola: laady

References

• “lādī(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Polish

Etymology 1

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛj.di/
• Rhymes: -ɛjdi
• Syllabification: la‧dy

Noun

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

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla.dɘ/
• Rhymes: -adɘ
• Syllabification: la‧dy
• Homophone: Lady

Noun

lady f

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

Further reading

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

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English lady.

Noun

lady f (plural lady)

1. lady

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English lady.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈleidi/ [ˈlei̯.ð̞i]
• Rhymes: -eidi

Noun

lady f (plural ladies)

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

Usage notes

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

• “lady”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28

Swedish

Etymology

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

Noun

lady c

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