lady

== 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”) + dǣġe (“kneader”), related to Old English dǣġe (“maker of dough”) (whence dey (“dairymaid”)). Compare also lord. More at loaf, dairy, dough. Unrelated to lad. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈleɪ.di/ (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): /ˈlɛj.dɪj/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈleɪ.di/, [ˈleɪ.ɾi] (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈlæɪ.di/, [ˈlæɪ.ɾi] (Scotland) IPA(key): /ˈle.de/, /-dɪ/, /-di/ (Wales, without the pane–pain merger) IPA(key): /ˈleːdi/ Hyphenation: la‧dy Rhymes: -eɪdi === Noun === lady (plural ladies) (historical) The mistress of a household. A woman of breeding or higher class, a woman of authority. The feminine of lord, a lordess. A title for someone married to a lord or gentleman. A title that can be used instead of the formal terms of marchioness, countess, viscountess, or baroness. (polite or used by children) A woman: an adult female human. (in the plural) A polite reference or form of address to women. (slang) Used to address a female. (informal) A wife or girlfriend; a sweetheart. A woman to whom the particular homage of a knight was paid; a woman to whom one is devoted or bound. (slang) A queen (the playing card). (attributive, with a professional title) Who is a woman. (Wicca) Alternative form of Lady. (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. (UK, slang) A five-pound note. (Rhyming slang, Lady Godiva for fiver.) (slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman’s breast. (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) 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) 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) lady (wife of a lord; important woman) ==== Synonyms ==== dama, donna (archaic), signora === References === == Middle English == === Alternative forms === laddy, lade, ladi, ladie, ladij, ladye, lavedi, lavedy lafdi, leafdi, leawedi, lefdi, lehedi (Early Middle English); lafvedi, læfdi, lævedi, leivedi, leofdi (Laȝamon's Brut); laffdiȝ (Ormulum) lafedy, laday, lavydy, laydy (Late Middle English) ledy, lefdy, lefdye, levede, levedi, levedy, levidi (especially East Saxon, West Midland, Yorkshire); lhevedi, lhevedy (Kent) === Etymology === Inherited from Old English hlǣfdiġe, hlāfdiġe, in turn from hlāf (“bread, loaf”) + dǣġe (“maid”). The variants in /aː/ and /ɛ̞ː/ possibly originate from hlāfdiġe and hlǣfdiġe respectively; note that the vowel has been shortened due to trisyllabic shortening and then relengthened due to open-syllable lengthening. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈlaːdiː/, /ˈladiː/, (especially Early Middle English) /ˈlav(ə)diː/ IPA(key): /ˈlɛ̞ːdiː/, /ˈlɛv(ə)diː/ (especially East Saxon, Kent, West Midland, Yorkshire) === Noun === lady (plural ladies, genitive singular ladies or lady) A woman with authority or leadership: A lady (mistress of a household) A lady (noblewoman or female monarch). A woman who manages an abbey or inn. The wife of a noble or monarch. A polite way to address a noble or honoured woman. (by extension) Any woman. A female deity (or the Virgin Mary). ==== Derived terms ==== ladyschipe ==== Descendants ==== English: lady (see there for further descendants) Middle Scots: lady Scots: lady, leddy Yola: laady → Icelandic: lafði ==== 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) Lady (aristocratic title for a woman) lady (wife of a lord) 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 inflection of lada: genitive singular nominative/accusative/vocative plural === Further reading === “lady”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN “lady”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[4] (in Polish) == Romanian == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English lady. === Noun === lady f (plural lady) lady == Spanish == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English lady. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈleidi/ [ˈlei̯.ð̞i] Rhymes: -eidi === Noun === lady f (plural ladies) 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 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025 == Swedish == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English lady, from Middle English lady, laddy, lafdi, lavedi, from Old English hlǣfdīġe. === Noun === lady c Lady (aristocratic title for a woman) lady (wife of a lord)