different between lady vs damsel

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.

English

Alternative forms

• damoiselle, damosel, damozel (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English dameisele, from Old French damoisele, from Vulgar Latin *domnicella, a diminutive from Classical Latin domina (“mistress, lady”), from dominus, from *demh?-. Doublet of demoiselle, doncella, and donzella.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?dæmz?l/

Noun

damsel (plural damsels)

1. A young woman (of noble birth).
2. A girl; a maiden (without sexual experience).
3. A young woman who is not married.
4. An unmarried lady-in-waiting.
5. A chattering damsel (component of a mill).
   • 1843, The Magazine of Science, and Schools of Art (volume 4, page 263)

     The spout that conveys the grain from the hopper to the eye or centre of the upper millstone rests against the spindle, just at the damsel, and thus receives an alternate back and forward motion, […]

Derived terms

• damsel in distress
• damselfish
• damselfly
• riverdamsel

Translations

Anagrams

• damels, delams, lameds, medals