| 释义 |
▪ I. madam, n.|ˈmædəm|
Forms: 3–6 madame, 4–5 madaum Sc. madem(e, 5 maydame, 6 maddame, 4–9 madame, 4– madam.
[a. OF. ma dame (in mod.Fr. written madame), literally, ‘my lady’ (see dame, dam), corresp. etymologically to It. madonna, monna, med.L. mea domina.
The spelling madame is still preferred by some writers, but the more general and convenient practice is to write madam when the word is used as English, and madame when it is used as a foreign title. For the plural (in sense 1) mesdames is now used; the Eng. plural is obs. exc. in sense 3.]
1. a. A form of respectful or polite address (substituted for the name) originally used by servants in speaking to their mistress, and by people generally in speaking to a lady of high rank; subsequently used with progressively extended application, and now capable of being (in certain circumstances) employed in addressing a woman of whatever rank or position. (Corresponding to sir.)
The early occurrence of dame in the sense of mother suggests that in AF. and early ME. ma dame was very commonly used by children to their mother; but in the extant examples the mother so addressed is a queen or a lady of very high rank. In Chaucer's time (C.T. Prol. 376) to be addressed as madame was one of the advantages which a citizen's wife gained by her husband's being made alderman; this probably indicates the lowest social grade in which at that time the title could be claimed as a matter of customary right. In poetry of the 14th and 15th c. the lover often addresses his mistress as madame. Nuns (originally only the elder ones: see quot. c 1400) were called madame down to the Reformation.
While in France the title has (with certain customary exceptions) been confined to married women, in England no such rule has been generally adopted, though there are traces of a tendency in the 16–17th c. to address matrons as ‘madam’ and spinsters as ‘mistress’.
From the 17th c. madam has been the title normally used in beginning or subscribing a letter to a woman of any station, except where the use of the name (as in ‘Dear Mrs. A.’ etc.) is permitted (‘my lady’, etc. not being admitted in epistolary usage). In oral use the title now rarely occurs; from the 18th c. it has been, except in very formal use, largely superseded by the contracted form ma'am, which has itself in recent years been greatly restricted in currency; however, madam is in London and other towns still the word commonly used by salesmen to their female customers, and by persons in the position of servants to the public.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 832 Heo [sc. Cordeille] sede..Mid hou mani kniȝtes is he come, þe oþer aȝen sede, Ma dame bote mid o man. Ibid. 5858 Certes ma dame quaþ þe king [to his stepmother] so ne may it noȝt be. a1300–1400Cursor M. 4340 (Gött.) In chamber hendely he [Joseph] hir grett, And said, ‘madam [Cott. lauedi], cum to ȝour mett’. c1330Arth. & Merl. 4644 (Kölbing) Þo bispac Wawain curteys [addressing his mother] Madame, purvaieþ ous harnais. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints l. (Katerine) 658 [T]hane purphir sad till hir [sc. the queen] alsone: ‘dred nocht, mademe! It sall be done’. 1390Gower Conf. I. 47 Ma dame, I am a man of thyne, That in thi Court have longe served. a1400–50Alexander 229 ‘Haile, modi qwene of Messidoyne’ he maister-like said; Þare deyned him na daynte ‘madame’ hire to call. Ibid. 874 Þen airis him on Alexander to his awen modire; ‘Bees not a-glopened, madame ne greued at my fadire’. c1400Rule St. Benet 2210 ‘Damisel’ þe ȝongest [nun] es, Þe elder ‘madaum’ & ‘mastres’. Þe Priores als principall Es ‘lady’ & leder of þam all. a1440Sir Degrev. 785 ‘Maydame!’ sche seid, ‘gramercy of thi gret cortesy’. c1470Henry Wallace v. 1030 ‘Grace’, scho cryit, ‘for hym that deit on tre’. Than Wallace said; ‘Mademe, your noyis lat be’. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 1393 ‘Alas’, he sayd, ‘ma dame and patronesse, For sorowe I can nat my peynes expresse’. 1547Earl of Sussex in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. II. 137 [To his wife.] Madame..thies be to signifie [etc.]. Ibid. 138 Thus, good Madame albeit [etc.]. 1552Lyndesay Monarche iii. 4664 The seilye Nun wyll thynk gret schame, Without scho callit be Madame. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. i. 109 And didst not thou..desire me to be no more familiar with such poore people, saying, that ere long they should call me Madam? 1602― Ham. ii. ii. 96 Qu. More matter, with lesse Art. Pol. Madam, I sweare I vse no Art at all. 1609B. Jonson Silent Woman v. (1620) O 2, Tru. You see, what creatures you may bestow your fauours on, Madames. 1648Milton Sonn. x. 11 To the Lady Margaret Ley, Though later born, than to have known the dayes Wherein your Father flourisht, yet by you Madam, me thinks I see him living yet. 1696Phillips (ed. 5), Madam, a Title of Honour, which is given as well in Writing as Speaking, to Women of Quality, as Princesses, Dutchesses, and others; but grown a little too common of late. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xvii. vi, ‘If you will have patience, madam’, answered Mrs. Miller, ‘I will acquaint you who I am’..‘I have no curiosity, madam, to know anything’, cries Sophia. 1851Tennyson To the Queen, Take, Madam, this poor book of song. 1884J. Quincy Figures of Past 325 ‘So you've been over the farm, Colonel Pickering’, said my mother... ‘Why, yes, Madame’, was the reply, ‘I have been all over the farm, and a weary tramp I've had of it’. 1901Daily Chron. 10 Dec. 5/2 The street⁓car conductors of Boston are compelled to address all their women passengers as ‘madam’.
b. Non-vocatively, substituted for the name of a lady entitled to be addressed as ‘madam’. ? Obs.
c1500Melusine 11 Sire, Madame the quene Pressyne your wyf..is delyuered of thre doughtirs. 1605Shakes. Lear i. ii. 9 Why Bastard?.. When my Dimensions are as well compact..As honest Madams issue? 1716Swift Phillis Wks. 1755 III. ii. 159 Old madam, who went up to find What papers Phil had left behind. 1720― Fates Clergym. ibid. II. ii. 28 He kept a miserable house, but the blame was laid wholly upon madam; for the good doctor was always at his books. 1762Bickerstaffe Love in Village i. ix. (1765) 18, I know what makes you false hearted to me, that you may keep company with young madam's waiting woman. 1839–41Warren Ten Thous. a Year xvii. II. 93 It's very hard ma'am, that madam's maid is to go with her, and I'm not to go with you! [‘Madam’ is the lady of the house; the speaker is her sister-in-law's maid.]
c. Used in contempt or anger. Chiefly dial.
1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., I'll give it you, madam, if you don't do as you're bid.
2. As a prefixed title.
†a. Prefixed to a first or sole name. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Prol. 121 She [the prioress] was cleped madame Eglentyne. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. ii. i. 9 Goe to, sir, tell me: do you know Madam Siluia? Ibid. ii. v. 8 But sirha, how did thy Master part with Madam Julia? 1613Heywood Brazen Age ii. ii, Iason. Madam Medea. Medea. Leaue circumstance, away. 1749Fielding Tom Jones viii. viii, etc. [An unmarried young lady is referred to by servants and inferiors as ‘Madam Sophia’.]
b. Prefixed to a surname: (a) Now in U.S., and perh. formerly in England, the style of a woman who has a married son (whose wife has the style of ‘Mrs.’). (b) dial. The style of a married woman of position, such as the squire's wife. (c) U.S. (See quot. 1809).
1703Petiver Musei Petiver. 94 Madam Elizabeth Glanville. To this Curious Gentlewoman I am obliged for an hundred Insects. 1705Lond. Gaz. No. 4106/4 Madam Clark of Yeovil, Mrs. Jervice of Favent. a1774Goldsm. Elegy on Mrs. Blaize, Good people all, with one accord Lament for Madam Blaize. 1809Kendall Trav. II. xxxviii. 44 It has been, and still is the practice, to prefix to the name of a deceased female of some consideration..the title of madam. a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Madam, a term of respect to gentlewomen; below lady, but above mistress. In a village, the Esquire's wife..must have madam prefixed to her surname. The parson's wife, if he be a doctor, or a man of..genteel figure, must be madam too. 1849Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. I. ix. 162 The title of Madam is sometimes given here [in Boston], and generally..in the South, to a mother whose son has married, and the daughter-in-law is then called Mrs.
†c. madame regent = queen regent. Also fig. Obs.
1523Skelton Garl. Laurel 53 [to Pallas] Prynces moost pusant..All other transcendyng..Madame regent of the seyence seuyn. Ibid. 951. a 1562 G. Cavendish Wolsey (1893) 84 Nowe was there lodged also Madame Regent, the kyng's mother, and all hir trayn of ladys and gentillwomen.
†d. In playful or derisive uses. Obs.
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 43 Behold, behold, where madam Mitigation comes. 1624Heywood Captives iv. i. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, Naye, make his honest and chast wyfe no better Then a madam makarell. 1633Ford 'Tis Pity ii. ii, 'Tis not your new Mistresse, Your goodly Madam Merchant, shall triumph On my deiection. 1670Eachard Cont. Clergy 28 After a lad has taken his leave of Madam University,..he is not likely to deal..with much Latine. 1687Dryden Hind & P. ii. 250 But madam Panther, you, though more sincere, Are not so wise as your adulterer. a1806H. K. White My Study, The ideal flights of Madam Brain.
3. A woman who is addressed as ‘madam’.
†a. A lady of rank or station. Also fig. Obs.
1543Bale Yet a Course 38 b, She [holy church] became a gloryouse madame of the earth. 1550― Image Both Ch. Pref. A vj b, They have alwaies for lucres sake, gloriouslye garnished their holy mother, the madame of mischiefe and proude synagog of Sathan wt golde, siluer [etc.]. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. Epit. Preceptes A ij b, His grand⁓mother a sober matrone and vertuous old maddame. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. i. (Arb.) 149 As we see in these great Madames of honour. 1616R. C. Times' Whistle, etc. (1871) 134 'Tis certaine he had been a knight a[t] lest, And made his wife (what she hath lookt for long) A Madame.
appositively.1632Massinger City Madam i. i, The want of one [sc. a male heir] Swells my young Mistresses, and their madam mother With hopes above their birth, and scale.
b. The mistress of a house. Now only U.S. vulgar.
1824Galt Rothelan ii. xv, We shall..use a little more freedom with the madam of the mansion. 1879Tourgee Fool's Err. xv. 75 Well, Colonel,..I've brought back the books I borrowed of the madam the other day.
c. In derisive or opprobrious use. (a) An affected fine lady. † (b) A kept mistress, a courtesan, prostitute (obs.). (c) Used as a general term of contempt for a female: a ‘hussy’, ‘minx’. (d) A brothel-keeper; cf. madame 4. (e) Nonsense, humbug. slang.
These uses may perhaps, so far as origin is concerned, belong partly to madame, as being more or less due to prejudice against foreign women. Cf. ‘Madam Van [?i.e. a Dutchwoman: cf. madame 1] a whore’ (Dict. Cant. Crew, a 1700).
(a)1598Marston Sco. Villanie In Lect. B 2, Let me alone, the Madams call for thee Longing to laugh at thy wits pouertie. 1623Massinger Dk. Milan iii. ii, Fine meeters To tinckle in the eares of ignorant Madams. 1664Power Exp. Philos. i. 11 Ovid's Lydian-Spinstresse, that proud Madam which Pallas, for her Rivalship transform'd into the Spider. 1682O. N. Boileau's Lutrin 1. Argt. 11 Thus Queasie Madams meat forbear Untill they read, The Bill of Fare. 1725New Cant. Dict., Mistress Princum-Prancum, such a stiff, over-nice, precise Madam. 1803M. Charlton Wife & Mistress III. 57 What should I care what those fine Madams says of me! 1840Hood Kilmansegg, Honeymoon xxii, She was far too pamper'd a madam.
(b)1719D'Urfey Pills IV. 139 Hide-Park may be term'd the Market of Madams, or Lady-Fair. 1721Amherst Terræ Fil. No. 28 (1754) 152 At Oxford..several of our most celebrated and right beautiful madams would pluck off their fine feathers, and betake themselves to an honest livelihood. 1747Gentl. Mag. 96 On a Gentleman who mistook a Kept Madam for a Lady of Fashion. 1761Ann. Reg. ii. 66 He indulged himself and madam with green peas at five shillings a quart.
(c)1802Wolcot (P. Pindar) Middlesex Elect. ii. Wks. 1816 IV. 183 I'd make the madams squall. 1874S. Beauchamp Grantley Grange I. 68 ‘I do not think they [hop-pickers] are troubled with much shyness’. ‘O, not a bit of it, Sir Charles..they're brazen madams, and quite above my hands’.
(d)a1911D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) I. xxi. 393 The madam fixes things so that every girl always owes her money. 1912T. Dreiser Financier xlvi. 510 In a few moments the ‘madam’, as the current word characterized this type of woman, appeared. 1918C. Garnett tr. Dostoevsky's White Nights 117 Before me was standing a person with a stupid smile, the ‘madam’ herself. 1926J. Black You can't Win iv. 30 The following week I called at Madam Kate Singleton's... In a minute the madam came down. 1959N. Mailer Advts. for Myself (1961) 279 A rather remarkable woman who had been the madam of a whorehouse. 1960Auden Homage to Clio 85 Henry Adams Was mortally afraid of Madams: In a disorderly house He sat quiet as a mouse. 1962Punch 30 May p. xiii/1 Barbara Stanwyck as Lesbian madam of New Orleans brothel. 1975Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 18 July 7/1 The oldest girl is a woman, maybe Czechoslovakian, maybe the madam.
(e)1927E. Wallace Feathered Serpent xvii. 218 ‘I was getting a hundred quid for this job..and I couldn't turn him down.’ ‘The usual ‘madam’!’ sneered the inspector. ‘It's not ‘madam’, Mr. Brown,’ said Jerry earnestly, ‘though I admit it sounds as likely as cream in skilly; but it's true.’ 1932A. Gardner Tinker's Kitchen 284 Madam = made up story; flattery. 1936J. Curtis Gilt Kid ii. 18 ‘What did the old boy say?’ ‘Just the usual madam.’ 1965Sunday Times Mag. 11 July 21 Both sides are expert with the madam—a form of kidology which seems to come naturally to most Merseysiders. 1973J. Wainwright Touch of Malice 130 It was not the sort of place conducive to putting over a spot of old madam. The normally glib flannel tended to stick in his throat and the guff and eye⁓wash hadn't enough elbow-room to..sound..feasible.
4.
†a. Comb. (appositive). Obs.
1593G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 174 Floorishing London, the Staple of Wealth, & Madame-towne of the Realme.
b. madam-shop [madam n. 3], a small shop which sells ready-to-wear clothes for the fashionable woman of mature taste.
1952Times Lit. Suppl. 28 Nov. 778 The juggling with couture dressmakers..and owners of ‘madam shops’ in order to keep them contented with their share of reporting. 1963Harper's Bazaar Feb. 20/3 The sight of two assistants in one of those little madam shops fitting girdles on to plastic models. 1965Guardian 16 July 8/5 Boutiques are nothing new in Manchester. There is a stalwart ‘madam shop’ tradition; little shops for women of substance. 1966H. W. Yoxall Fashion of Life viii. 68 The contemporary Madam Shops, so aptly named,..are enjoying a new popularity. 1967Guardian 30 Mar. 5/1 The madam shops... Shops catering for women over 25 who want to dress in fashion, and can afford to.
Hence (nonce-wds.) ˈmadamish a., like a ‘fine lady’; † ˈmadamship.
1620Swetnam Arraigned (1880) 62, I thanke your Madame-ship, Ime glad o' this. 1881J. Younger Autobiog. xv. 171 The mistress at home grew quite madamish.
▪ II. madam, v.|ˈmædəm|
[f. madam n.]
trans. To address as ‘madam’. † Also with up.
1622Rowlands Good Newes & B. 7 She..would be Madam'd, Worship'd, Ladifide. 1668Dryden Evening's Love iii. i. (1671) 33 Madam me no Madam. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 58 In came the coachman..and madamed me up strangely. 1748― Clarissa Wks. 1883 VIII. 447, I am..Madam'd up perhaps to matrimonial perfection. 1829Examiner 116/1 The sparring scene between her and Mrs. Chatterley, wherein they ‘Madam’ each other with genteel petulance. |