different between dame vs mistress

English

Etymology

From Middle English dame, dam (“noble lady”), from Old French dame (“lady; term of address for a woman; the queen in card games and chess”), from Latin domina (“mistress of the house”), feminine form of dominus (“lord, master, ruler; owner of a residence”), ultimately either from Proto-Indo-European *demh?- (“to domesticate, tame”) or from Latin domus (“home, house”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“to build (up)”)). Doublet of domina and donna.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /de?m/
• Rhymes: -e?m

Noun

dame (plural dames)

1. (Britain) Usually capitalized as Dame: a title equivalent to Sir for a female knight.
2. (Britain) A matron at a school, especially Eton College.
3. (Britain, theater) In traditional pantomime: a melodramatic female often played by a man in drag.
4. (US, dated, informal, slightly derogatory) A woman.
5. (archaic) A lady, a woman.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:woman

Derived terms

• beldame
• dame school
• damehood
• damely

Related terms

Translations

See also

• knight
• madam
• madame
• sir

References

Further reading

• dame (title) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• dame (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• ADEM, ADME, Adem, Edam, MEDA, Mead, made, mead

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch dame, from Middle Dutch dame, from Middle French dame, from Old French dame, from Latin domina.

Noun

dame (plural dames, diminutive dametjie)

1. lady
2. (chess) queen

Derived terms

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from French dame (“lady”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /da?m?/, [?d?æ?m?]

Noun

dame c (singular definite damen, plural indefinite damer)

1. (polite) lady, woman (adult female)
2. lady (adult female with a cultivated appearance)
3. (informal) girlfriend
4. (card games) queen

Inflection

Derived terms

• damet (“ladyish, ladylike”)

See also

• dame on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da
• Dame (kort) on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch dame, from Middle French dame, from Old French dame, from Latin domina.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?da?.m?/
• Hyphenation: da?me
• Rhymes: -a?m?

Noun

dame f (plural dames, diminutive dametje n)

1. lady
   1. noblewoman
   2. Polite term or title of address for any (adult or adolescent) woman.
2. (chess, card games) queen

   Synonym: koningin

Derived terms

• damesblad
• damesfiets
• dameskapper
• dameskleding
• damestoilet
• dameszadel
• eredame
• hofdame

Related terms

• madam

Descendants

• Afrikaans: dame

See also

Anagrams

• adem, made

French

Etymology

From Old French dame, from Late Latin domna, shortened variant of Latin domina.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dam/
• Rhymes: -am

Noun

dame f (plural dames)

1. A lady
2. A polite form of address for a woman.
3. (chess) queen
4. (card games) queen

Usage notes

Occasionally, in very formal or official registers, dame can be used as a title with a woman's name, for example dame Jeanne Dupont. Normal usage would be Madame Jeanne Dupont.

Synonyms

• d^e, lady, madame

Derived terms

• dame blanche
• dame d'attendre
• dame d'honneur
• Dame Nature
• grande dame
• jeu de dames
• madame

Descendants

• ? Catalan: dama
• ? Friulian: dame
• ? Galician: dama
• ? German: Dame
• ? Polish: dama
• ? Portuguese: dama
• ? Romanian: dam?
• ? Spanish: dama

See also

Further reading

• “dame” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Noun

dame f

1. plural of dama

Japanese

Romanization

dame

1. R?maji transcription of ??

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French dame, from Latin domina.

Alternative forms

• damme, dam

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?da?m(?)/, /?dam(?)/

Noun

dame (plural dames)

1. lady (high-ranking or noble woman):
   1. abbess (governor of a nunnery)
   2. (rare) A female anchorite (with servants)
2. A housewife (mistress of a family)
3. A mother (of humans, animals, or plants)
4. A term of address for a noble lady.
5. A respectful term of address for any woman (sometimes sarcastic).

Related terms

• madame
• stepdame

Descendants

• English: dame; dam
• Scots: dame, deem; dam

References

• “d?me, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

dame

1. Alternative form of dam (“dam”)

Etymology 3

Verb

dame

1. Alternative form of dampnen

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin domina, via Old French dame and late Old Norse damma.

Noun

dame f or m (definite singular dama or damen, indefinite plural damer, definite plural damene)

1. a lady, woman
2. (romantic relationship) a girlfriend
3. (card games) a queen

Derived terms

References

• “dame” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin domina, via Old French dame and late Old Norse damma.

Noun

dame f (definite singular dama, indefinite plural damer, definite plural damene)

1. a lady, woman
2. (romantic relationship) a girlfriend
3. (card games) a queen

Derived terms

References

• “dame” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

Etymology

From Late Latin domna, shortened variant of Latin domina.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?dãm?]
• Rhymes: -am?

Noun

dame f (oblique plural dames, nominative singular dame, nominative plural dames)

1. lady; woman

Usage notes

• Unlike in modern French, fame usually refers to a wife, while dame refers to a woman.

Descendants

• Bourguignon: daime
• Franc-Comtois: daime
• ? Italian: dama
• Lorrain: daime
• ? Middle English: dame, damme, dam
  • English: dame; dam
  • Scots: dame, deem; dam
• Middle French: dame
  • French: dame
    • ? Catalan: dama
    • ? Friulian: dame
    • ? Galician: dama
    • ? German: Dame
    • ? Polish: dama
    • ? Portuguese: dama
    • ? Romanian: dam?
    • ? Spanish: dama
  • ? Middle Dutch: dame
    • Dutch: dame
• Norman: dame
• ? Norwegian Bokmål: dame
• ? Norwegian Nynorsk: dame
• Picard: danme

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?dame]

Noun

dame f

1. indefinite plural of dam?
2. indefinite genitive/dative singular of dam?

Spanish

Verb

dame

1. Compound of the informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of dar, da and the pronoun me: give me!

English

Etymology

From Middle English maistresse and Old French maistresse (French maîtresse), feminine of maistre (“master”). This may be broken down as mister +? -ess.

Pronunciation

• enPR: m?s?tr?s, IPA^(key): /?m?st??s/

Noun

mistress (plural mistresses)

1. A woman, specifically one with great control, authority or ownership

   Synonyms: (applicable to either sex) boss, (applicable to either sex) head, (applicable to either sex) leader

   male equivalent: master

2. A female teacher

   Synonym: schoolmarm

   male equivalent: master

3. The other woman in an extramarital relationship, generally including sexual relations

   Synonyms: (applicable to either sex) bit on the side, fancy woman, comaré, goomah; see also Thesaurus:mistress

   Antonyms: cicisbeo, fancy man

4. A dominatrix

   male equivalent: master

   • 2006, Amelia May Kingston, The Triumph of Hope (page 376)

     As part of BDSM play they can enhance the domineering tread of a mistress or hobble the steps of a slave.

5. A woman well skilled in anything, or having the mastery over it

   • A letter desires all young wives to make themselves mistresses of Wingate's Arithmetic.

6. a woman regarded with love and devotion; a sweetheart
7. (Scotland) A married woman; a wife
8. (obsolete) The jack in the game of bowls
9. A female companion to a master (a man with control, authority or ownership)
10. female equivalent of master
11. female equivalent of mister

Usage notes

In the extramarital sense, mistress is often narrowly taken to mean a woman involved in a committed extramarital relationship (an affair), often supported financially (a kept woman). It can also be broadly taken to mean a woman involved in an extramarital relationship regardless of the level of commitment, but requires more than a single act of adultery.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

mistress (third-person singular simple present mistresses, present participle mistressing, simple past and past participle mistressed)

1. (transitive, rare) Of a woman: to master; to learn or develop to a high degree of proficiency.
2. (intransitive) To act or take the role of a mistress.

See also

• (titles) (of a man): Mr (Mister, mister), Sir (sir); (of a woman): Ms (Miz, mizz), Mrs (Mistress, mistress), Miss (miss), Dame (dame), (of a non-binary person): Mx (Mixter); (see also): Dr (Doctor, doctor), Madam (madam, ma'am) ^{(Category: en:Titles)}

References