n.
(pl. ladies)
- (in polite or formal use) a woman.
- a woman of superior social position.
▸
(Lady)
(in the UK) a title used by peeresses, female relatives of peers, the wives and widows of knights, etc.
▸a courteous or genteel woman.
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(one's lady)
dated a man's wife.
▸historical a woman to whom a knight is chivalrously devoted.
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(the Ladies)
Brit. a women's public toilet.
Phrase
- find the lady
another term for three-card trick. - it isn't over till the fat lady sings
there is still time for a situation to change.
[by assoc. with the final aria in tragic opera.]
- Lady Muck
see muck. - My Lady
a polite form of address to female judges and certain noblewomen.
Derivative
History
The forerunner of the word lady in Old English was hlæfdīge, meaning the female head of a household, or a woman to whom homage or obedience was due, such as the wife of a lord or, specifically, the Virgin Mary. The word came from hlāf ‘loaf’ and a Germanic base meaning ‘knead’ which is related to dough and dairy; thus a lady was a ‘loaf kneader’. The word lord developed in a similar way; in Old English it literally meant ‘bread keeper’.
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