different between duchess vs lady

English

Alternative forms

• dutchess (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English duchesse, from Old French duchesse.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?d?t???s/, /?d?t???s/

Noun

duchess (plural duchesses)

1. The wife or widow of a duke.
   • 2012, Caroline Davies, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announce they are expecting first baby (in The Guardian, 3 December 2012)[1]

     The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have ended months of intense speculation by announcing they are expecting their first child, but were forced to share their news earlier than hoped because of the Duchess's admission to hospital on Monday.

2. The female ruler of a duchy.

Derived terms

Related terms

• duchesse lace, duchesse
• duchesse potatoes

Translations

Verb

duchess (third-person singular simple present duchesses, present participle duchessing, simple past and past participle duchessed)

1. (Australia, informal) to court or curry favour for political or business advantage; to flatter obsequiously.
   • 1996, Shane Maloney, The Brush-Off, 2003, page 46,

     ‘A word to the wise, Murray. Those wogs you?ve been duchessing at Ethnic Affairs have got nothing on the culture vultures. Tear the flesh right off your bones, they will.’

   • 2004, Humphrey McQueen, A New Britannia, Fourth Edition, page 66,

     The traditional version of Hughes? decision to introduce conscription gives central importance to his visit to London in April 1916 where it is alleged he was duchessed and deceived concerning recruitment figures.

English

Etymology

From Middle English lady, laddy, lafdi, lavedi, from Old English hl?fd??e (“mistress of a household, wife of a lord, lady”, literally “bread-kneader”), from hl?f (“bread, loaf”) + d??e (“kneader”), related to Old English d??e (“maker of dough”). Compare also lord. More at loaf, dairy, dough. Unrelated to lad.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?le?di/
• Rhymes: -e?di
• 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. (familiar) 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. 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. (Britain, slang) A five-pound note. (Rhyming slang, Lady Godiva for fiver.)
17. (slang) A woman’s breast.

Derived terms

• Pages starting with “lady”.

Related terms

• fakaleit?
• Lady

Descendants

Translations

References

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

See also

• lord
• gentleman
• ladies' room
• broad

Anagrams

• DALY, Daly, Dyal, Lyda, layd, yald

French

Etymology

From English lady.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?.di/, /le.di/

Noun

lady f (plural ladys)

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

Synonyms

• dame, madame

Further reading

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

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English lady.

Noun

lady f (invariable)

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

Synonyms

• dama, donna (archaic), signora

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ladi, laddy, lafdi, lavedi

Etymology

From Old English hl?fd??e, in turn from hl?f (“bread, loaf”) + d??e (“maid”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?la?di?(?)/
• (Early ME) IPA^(key): /?lavdi?(?)/

Noun

lady (plural ladys)

1. lady (important woman)

Descendants

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

References

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

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?la.d?/

Noun

lady f

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

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English lady.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?leidi/, [?lei?.ð?i]

Noun

lady f (plural ladies)

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

Further reading

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