different between madame vs dame

English

Alternative forms

• Madame

Etymology

Borrowed from French madame, from Old French ma dame (“my lady”). Doublet of madam and Madonna.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /m??d??m/, /?mæ.d?m/
• (US) IPA^(key): /m??dæm/, /m??d?m/, /mæ?dæm/, /mæ?d?m/, /?mæ.d?m/
• Rhymes: -æm

Noun

madame (plural madames or mesdames)

1. Alternative form of madam

Derived terms

• Madame Bishop

Related terms

• croque-madame
• grande madame
• Madame Berthe's mouse lemur
• Madame Tussaud's

Anagrams

• ma'amed

Finnish

Noun

madame

1. madam

Declension

French

Etymology

ma +? dame From Old French ma dame (my lady).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.dam/

Noun

madame f (plural mesdames)

1. a title or form of address for a woman, formerly for a married woman and now commonly for any adult woman regardless of marital status, used both in direct and third-person address.

   Si vous êtes libre, pourriez-vous aider madame, s'il vous plaît?

   If you're free, could you help this lady, please?

2. madam, Mrs. or Ms.
3. (in children's language, childish) Lady, woman.

   Dis merci à la madame.

   Say thank you to the lady.

4. the female employer of a domestic servant
   • 2020, Laure Stéphan, « Ma Madame m’a dit qu’ils ne pouvaient plus me payer » : au Liban, le calvaire des domestiques éthiopiennes, Le Monde:

     Mazaa, 23 ans, ancienne nourrice et femme de ménage, croix autour du cou, cache son visage. « Ma Madame (employeuse) m’a dit qu’ils ne pouvaient plus me payer. [...] »

     Mazaa, 23 years old, former nanny and housekeeper, a cross around her neck, hides her face. "My madame (employer) told me they couldn't pay me anymore. [...]"

Synonyms

• dame, lady
• (title, form of address): (abbreviations) M^me, Mme.

Derived terms

Coordinate terms

• mademoiselle
• monsieur

Descendants

• ? Russian: ?????? (madám)

Further reading

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

Italian

Noun

madame f

1. plural of madama

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ma dame, madam, madaum, maydame, madde dame

Etymology

From Old French madame; compare dame.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma?da?m(?)/, /ma?dam(?)/, /ma?-/

Noun

madame (plural madames)

1. madam (polite term of address or (less often) title for a noble lady)

Descendants

• English: madam; ma'am
• Scots: madam

References

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

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• madama

Etymology

Borrowed from French madame.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ami

Noun

madame f (plural madames)

1. madam (polite term of address to a woman)
2. madam (mistress of a household)

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from French madame.

Noun

madame f (plural madames)

1. madam (polite term of address to a woman)
2. madam (mistress of a household)

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!