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. (ladies' or ladies) Toilets intended for use by women.
10. (informal) A wife or girlfriend; a sweetheart.
11. A woman to whom the particular homage of a knight was paid; a woman to whom one is devoted or bound.
12. (slang) A queen (the playing card).
13. (attributive, with a professional title) Who is a woman.

14. (Wicca) Alternative form of Lady.
15. (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.
16. (UK, slang) A five-pound note. (Rhyming slang, Lady Godiva for fiver.)
17. (slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman’s breast.
18. (chess, slang, rare) A queen.

Derived terms

• Pages 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)

      • 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

• 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.dɨ/
• Rhymes: -adɨ
• 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, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014