Origins of the word lady

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

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^[1]:

     ‘[…] 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!

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 58:

     The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.

8. (slang) Used to address a female.

   Hey, lady, move your car!

   Hey, ladies, how are you doing?

9. (ladies’ or ladies) Toilets intended for use by women.
10. (informal) A wife or girlfriend; a sweetheart.

    • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 59, column 2:

      It is my Lady, O it is my Loue, O that ſhe knew ſhe were,
      She ſpeakes, yet ſhe ſayes nothing, what of that?

    • 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC; reprinted London: Elliot Stock, 1885, →OCLC:

      But nothing could now exceed my confusion upon seeing the gentleman and his lady enter

11. 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^[2], Dublin: W. G. Jones, published 1768, page 154:

      The ſoldier here his waſted ſtore ſupplies,
      And takes new valor from the Ladies’ eyes.

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

    A lady doctor.

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[edit]

Pages starting with “lady”.

[edit]

• fakaleitī
• Lady

Descendants[edit]

Translations[edit]

References[edit]

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

Verb[edit]

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. […] ”

   • 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.’

   • 2018, Skye MacKinnon, Winter Princess (Daughter of Winter, Book Two), Peryton Press:

     “How can I help, my lady?” “Stop the ladying. […]”

See also[edit]

• lord
• gentleman
• ladies’ room
• broad

Anagrams[edit]

• DALY, Daly, Dyal, Lyda, layd, yald

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /lɛ.di/, /le.di/

Noun[edit]

lady f (plural ladies or ladys)

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

   Synonyms: dame, madame

Further reading[edit]

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

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from English lady.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛ.di/, /ˈle.di/^[1]
• Rhymes: -ɛdi, -edi

Noun[edit]

lady f (invariable)

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

Synonyms[edit]

• dama, donna (archaic), signora

References[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

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

Etymology[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

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[edit]

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

References[edit]

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

Polish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

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[edit]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

lady f

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

Further reading[edit]

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

Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from English lady.

Noun[edit]

lady f (plural lady)

1. lady

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from English lady.

Pronunciation[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

lady f (plural ladies)

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

Usage notes[edit]

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[edit]

• “lady”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

«Gentlelady» redirects here. Not to be confused with Gentlewoman.

The word lady is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Informal use is sometimes euphemistic («lady of the night» for prostitute) or, in American slang, condescending in direct address (equivalent to «mister» or «man»).

«Lady» is also a formal title in the United Kingdom. «Lady» is used before the family name of a woman with a title of nobility or honorary title suo jure (in her own right), or the wife of a lord, a baronet, Scottish feudal baron, laird, or a knight, and also before the first name of the daughter of a duke, marquess, or earl.

Etymology[edit]

The word comes from Old English hlǣfdige; the first part of the word is a mutated form of hlāf, «loaf, bread», also seen in the corresponding hlāford, «lord». The second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, «to knead», seen also in dough; the sense development from bread-kneader, or bread-maker, or bread-shaper, to the ordinary meaning, though not clearly to be traced historically, may be illustrated by that of «lord».^[1]

Usage[edit]

The primary meaning of «mistress of a household» is now mostly obsolete,^[1] save for the term «landlady» and in set phrases such as «the lady of the house». This meaning is retained in the southern states of the United States. In some contexts «lady» is synonymous with the old-fashioned word «gentlewoman», meaning someone of high social status by birth and upbringing, but not necessarily titled. The term is also used in titles such as first lady and lady mayoress, the wives of elected or appointed officials.

In many European languages the equivalent term serves as a general form of address equivalent to the English Mrs (French Madame, Spanish Señora, Italian Signora, German Frau, Polish Pani, etc.). In those languages it is correct to address a woman whose name is unknown as Madame, Señora, etc., but in polite English usage «lady» has for centuries only normally been a term of address in the plural,^[2] which is also the case for «gentleman». The singular vocative use (i.e. to address someone directly) was once common but has become mostly confined to poetry.^[2] In some dialects it may still be used to address an unknown woman in a brusque manner, often in an imperative or interrogatory context, analogous to «mister» for an unknown male: e.g., «Hey, lady, you aren’t allowed in here!»^[3] In this usage, the word «lady» is very seldom capitalized when written. The usual English term for politely addressing a woman is madam or its abbreviation ma’am.

In English, relatively few job titles are un-gendered.^{[citation needed]} Some names for jobs are gender-neutral, e.g. mail carrier (postal worker), but where there is a common word with a -man suffix, sometimes -lady may be used as an equivalent, e.g. postman and (sometimes) postlady. Using «lady» in professional job titles which had previously been male preserves fell out of favour with second-wave feminism (lady doctor, lady engineer, lady judge), though lady doctor is sometimes used by a healthcare receptionist when booking an appointment at a group practice health centre so that the situation is clear to the patient.^{[citation needed]} It is still used in some other occupations, to give dignity and express respect to less skilled work such as tea ladies in offices and hospitals, lunch ladies (or dinner ladies) in school canteens, cleaning ladies in private homes and in business premises, and healthcare ladies for female healthcare assistants.

Both British and American commentators noted the shifting uses of «lady» in the mid-twentieth century. The American journalist William Allen White noted one of the difficulties in his 1946 autobiography. He relates that a woman who had paid a fine for prostitution came to his newspaper to protest, not against the fact that her conviction had been reported, but that the newspaper had referred to her as a «woman» rather than a «lady». After the incident, White assured his readers, his papers referred to human females as «women», with the exception of police court characters, who were all «ladies». The British historian Nancy Mitford wrote an influential essay in 1954, «U vs. non-U», in which she noted the class distinctions: lower class women strongly preferred to be called «ladies», while those from higher social backgrounds were content to be identified as «women». Commenting on the word in 1953, C. S. Lewis wrote that «the guard at Holloway said it was a ladies’ prison!» The term «a bag lady» (vagabond) is a euphemism for a woman who has fallen on hard times; a «lady of the night» is a polite term for a prostitute.

In British English, «lady» is often, but not always, simply a courteous synonym for «woman». Public toilets are often distinguished by signs showing simply «Ladies» or «Gentlemen». «Lady» can have a formal and respectful quality, being used to describe an elderly woman as «an old lady» or when speaking about a woman to a child (e.g. «Give the money to the lady.») It remains in use as a counterpart to «gentleman», in the plural phrase «ladies and gentlemen», and is generally interchangeable (in a strictly informal sense) with «woman» (as in, «The lady at the store said I could return this item within thirty days»). However, some women, since the rise of second-wave feminism, have objected to the term used in contexts such as the last example, arguing that the term sounds patronising and outdated when used in this way; a man in the same context would not necessarily be referred to as a «gentleman». One feminist proponent of language reform, Robin Lakoff, in her book Language and Woman’s Place (1975), notably raised the issue of the ways in which «lady» is not used as the counterpart of «gentleman». It is suggested by academic Elizabeth Reid Boyd that feminist usage of the word «lady» has been reclaimed in the 21st century.^[4]

British titles[edit]

Formally, «Lady» is the female counterpart to higher ranks in society, from gentlemen, through knights, to peers of the realm. During the Middle Ages, princesses or daughters of the blood royal were usually known by their first names with «Lady» prefixed, e.g. The Lady Elizabeth;^[1] since Old English and Middle English did not have a female equivalent to princes or earls or other royals or nobles. Aside from the queen, women of royal and noble status simply carried the title of «Lady».

As a title of nobility, the uses of «lady» in Britain are parallel to those of «lord». It is thus a less formal alternative to the full title giving the specific rank, of marchioness, countess, viscountess or baroness, whether as the title of the husband’s rank by right or courtesy, or as the lady’s title in her own right.^[1] A peeress’s title is used with the definite article: Lord Morris’s wife is «the Lady Morris». A widow’s title derived from her husband becomes the dowager, e.g. The Dowager Lady Smith.

The title «Lady» is also used for a woman who is the wife of a Scottish feudal baron or laird, the title «Lady» preceding the name of the barony or lairdship.^[5] In the case of younger sons of a duke or marquess, who have the courtesy title «Lord» prefixed to their given and family name, the wife is known by the husband’s given and family name with «Lady» prefixed, e.g. Lady John Smith.^[1] The daughters of dukes, marquesses and earls are by courtesy «ladies»; here, that title is prefixed to the given and family name of the lady, e.g. Lady Jane Smith, and this is preserved if the lady marries a commoner, e.g. Mr John and Lady Jane Smith. «Lady» is also the customary title of the wife of a baronet or knight, but in this case without Christian name: «Lady» with the surname of the husband only,^[1] Sir John and Lady Smith. When a woman divorces a knight and he marries again, the new wife will be Lady Smith while the ex-wife becomes Jane, Lady Smith.

Female members of the Order of the Garter and Order of the Thistle also receive the prefix of «Lady»; here that title is prefixed to the given and family name of the lady, e.g. Lady Marion Fraser, LT, with the post nominal LG or LT respectively, and this is preserved if the lady marries.^{[citation needed]}

Other meanings[edit]

The special use of the word as a title of the Virgin Mary, usually Our Lady, represents the Latin Domina Nostra. In Lady Day and Lady Chapel, the word is properly a genitive, representing hlǣfdigan^[1] «of the Lady».

The word is also used as a title of the Wiccan Goddess, The Lady.

Margaret Thatcher was informally referred to in the same way by many of her political colleagues when Prime Minister of Great Britain. Her husband was later created a baronet, thus making her «Lady Thatcher» as of right. After she retired, she was given a barony as Baroness Thatcher, of Kesteven in the County of Lincolnshire, and was thereafter known as «The Lady Thatcher».

Elsewhere in the Commonwealth, the word is used in a similar fashion to aristocratic usage in Britain. In Ghana, for example, the consort of the Asantehene of the Ashanti people is known as Lady Julia Osei Tutu. In Nigeria, the Yoruba aristocrats Kofoworola, Lady Ademola and Oyinkansola, Lady Abayomi made use of the title due to their being the wives of British knights.

See also[edit]

• Girl
• Dame, a title parallel to Sir

References[edit]

• Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage (Merriam-Webster, 1989), ISBN 0-87779-132-5.
• Lakoff, Robin. Language and Woman’s Place (New York, Harper & Row, 1975). ISBN 0-19-516757-0.

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Леди

ЛЕДИ. В английском языке есть интересное слово, известное всему миру, и в то – же время, не имеющее однокоренных слов ни в одном из европейских языков. Это слово есть только в английском языке, и получило распространение по всему миру именно как заимствование из английского языка. Это слово ЛЕДИ. Ему нет аналогов ни в во французском, ни в латинском, ни в германском языках. Оно не похоже и на какое – либо русское. Тем не менее, английский язык обладает одним похвальным свойством: несмотря на то, что фонетическое значение почти всех гласных, и некоторых согласных изменилось, до неузнаваемости, исказив индоевропейские корни английских слов, на письме сохраняется завидное постоянство. Как бы не звучало в современном английском языке слово, на бумаге оно законсервировано так, как его произносили несколько столетий тому назад. Прочитав его, как слово, написанное обычной, не английской, латиницей, с удивлением видим в нем вполне славянское слово ЛАДА, однокоренное словам ЛАДНАЯ (стройная, пропорциональная, красивая), ЛАД (мир, гармония), ЛАДИТЬ (делать, изготовлять). В английском языке, кстати, слово LADY стоит особняком, что явно указывает на то, что слово это для англичан – заимствованное.

Лексическое значение английского слова ЛЕДИ вполне соответствует как раз значению русского слова ЛАДА – благородная, стройная, умная, гармоничная. То есть именно ЛАДНАЯ!

Славянская ЛАДА осталась и в других языках: в «древнегреческом» как имена богинь Латоны (Ладной) и Леты (Лады), в латинском как Латиния (Ладная).

The word lady is a polite term for a woman, specifically the female equivalent to, or spouse of, a lord or gentleman, and in many contexts a term for any adult woman. Once relating specifically to women of high social class or status, over the last 300 years it has spread to embrace all adult women, though in some contexts may still be used to evoke a concept of «lady-like» standards of behaviour.

Etymology and usage

The word comes from Old English hlǣfdige; the first part of the word is a mutated form of hlāf, «loaf, bread», also seen in the corresponding hlāford, «lord». The second part is usually taken to be from the root dig-, «to knead», seen also in dough; the sense development from bread-kneader, or bread-maker, or bread-shaper, to the ordinary meaning, though not clearly to be traced historically, may be illustrated by that of «lord».

The primary meaning of «mistress of a household» is now mostly obsolete, save for the term landlady and in set phrases such as «the lady of the house.» This meaning is retained in the southern states of the USA, however, in the title First Lady for the wife of an elected official. In many European languages the equivalent term serves as a general form of address equivalent to the English Missus usually written Mrs (French Madame, Spanish Señora, Italian Signora, German Frau, Polish Pani, etc.). In those languages it is correct to address a woman whose name is unknown as Madame, Señora, etc., but in English «lady» has for centuries only normally been a «term of address» in the plural,^[1] which is also the case for «gentleman». The singular vocative use was once common but became confined to poetry.^[1] The equivalent English term for politely addressing a woman is Madam, or in the United States the shortened form Ma’am.

The special use of the word as a title of the Virgin Mary, usually Our Lady, represents the Latin Domina Nostra. In Lady Day and Lady Chapel the word is properly a genitive, representing hlǣfdigan «of the Lady».

The word is also used as a title of the Wiccan Goddess, The Lady; Margaret Thatcher was informally referred to in the same way by many of her political colleagues when Prime Minister of Great Britain.

British and Irish usage

Especially in both Britain and Ireland, ‘lady’ is often, but not always, simply a courteous synonym for ‘woman’. It has a formal and respectful quality, being used to describe an older woman such as ‘an old lady’ or when speaking about a woman to a child (e.g. «Give the money to the lady.») It may be used, however incongruously, in descriptions such as «the cleaning lady» or even «a bag lady» (tramp). Public lavatories are often distinguished by signs showing simply ‘Ladies’ or ‘Gentlemen’.

However, formally «lady» is the female counterpart to higher ranks in society, from gentlemen, through knights, to lords, and so on. During the Middle Ages, princesses or daughters of the blood royal were usually known by their first names with «The Lady» prefixed, e.g. The Lady Elizabeth; since Old English and Middle English did not have a female equivalent to princes or earls or other royals or nobles, aside from the queen, women of royal and noble status simply carried the title of «Lady».

As a title of nobility, the uses of «lady» in Britain are parallel to those of «lord». It is thus a less formal alternative to the full title giving the specific rank, of marchioness, countess, viscountess or baroness, whether as the title of the husband’s rank by right or courtesy, or as the lady’s title in her own right. A peeress’s title is used with the definite article: Lord Morris’s wife is «The Lady Morris». A widow’s title derived from her husband becomes the dowager, e.g. The Dowager Lady Smith. The title «Lady» is also used for a woman who is the wife of a Scottish feudal baron, the title «Lady» preceding the name of the barony.

In the case of younger sons of a duke or marquess, who by courtesy have «Lord» prefixed to their given and family name, the wife is known by the husband’s given and family name with «The Lady» prefixed, e.g. The Lady John Smith. The daughters of dukes, marquesses and earls are by courtesy ladies; here that title is prefixed to the given and family name of the lady, e.g. The Lady Jane Smith, and this is preserved if the lady marries a commoner, e.g. Mr John and The Lady Jane Smith. The article ‘The’ should be used prior to «Lady» or «Lord» in all cases, except after a divorce for women who do not hold the courtesy title of «Lady» in their own right, e.g. or Jane, Lady Smith (the ex-wife of Lord John Smith).

«Lady» is also the customary title of the wife of a baronet or knight, but in this case with neither the article nor Christian name: «Lady» with the surname of the husband only, Sir John and Lady Smith. When a woman divorces a knight and he marries again, the new wife will be Lady Smith while the ex-wife becomes Jane, Lady Smith.

Female recipients of the Order of the Garter and Order of the Thistle also receive the prefix of Lady; here that title is prefixed to the given and family name of the lady, e.g. The Lady Marion Fraser LT, with the post nominal LG or LT respectively, and this is preserved if the lady marries.

In more recent years, use of the word lady is even more complicated. The American journalist William Allen White noted one of the difficulties in his 1946 autobiography. He relates that a woman who had paid a fine for prostitution came to his newspaper to protest, not that the fact of her conviction was reported, but that the newspaper had referred to her as a «woman» rather than a «lady.» After the incident, White assured his readers, his papers referred to human females as «women,» with the exception of police court characters, who were all «ladies.»

White’s anecdote touches on a phenomenon that others have remarked on as well. In the late 19th and early twentieth century, in a difference reflected in the British novelist Nancy Mitford’s essay «U vs. non-U», lower class women strongly preferred to be called «ladies» while women from higher social backgrounds were content to be identified as «women.» Alfred Ayer remarked in 1881 that upper middle class female store clerks were content to be «saleswomen,» while lower class female store clerks, for whom their job represented a social advancement, insisted on being called «salesladies.» These social class issues, while no longer as prominent in this century, have imbued the formal use of «lady» with something of irony (e.g.: «my cleaning lady,» or «ladies of the night» for prostitutes). Commenting on the word in 1953, C.S. Lewis wrote that «the guard at Holloway said it was a ladies’ prison!»

It remains in use, for example, as a counterpart to «gentleman,» in the phrase «ladies and gentlemen,» and is generally interchangeable (in a strictly informal sense) with «woman» (as in, «The lady at the store said I could return this item within thirty days.»). A sign in the gardens of Hunters Hotel reads «Ladies and Gentlemen will not pick the flowers; others must not»

References

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

• Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage (Merriam-Webster, 1989), ISBN 0-87779-132-5.

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Any first lady can do whatever they want to do. In this country, people expect them to work on whatever they want or to have a career of their own.

Laura Bush

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD LADY

Old English hlǣfdīge, from hlāf bread + dīge kneader, related to dāh dough.

PRONUNCIATION OF LADY

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF LADY

Lady is a noun.

WHAT DOES LADY MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Definition of lady in the English dictionary

The definition of lady in the dictionary is a woman regarded as having the characteristics of a good family and high social position. Other definition of lady is a polite name for a woman.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH LADY

SYNONYMS OF «LADY»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «lady» and belong to the same grammatical category.

TRANSLATION OF LADY

Find out the translation of lady to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «LADY»

The term «lady» is very widely used and occupies the 1.910 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.

Principal search tendencies and common uses of lady

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «LADY» OVER TIME

10 QUOTES WITH «LADY»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word lady.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «LADY»

Discover the use of lady in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to lady and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «LADY»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term lady is used in the context of the following news items.

REFERENCE

« EDUCALINGO. Lady [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/lady>. Apr 2023 ».

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