damen.
/deɪm/, U.S. /deɪm/ I. Expressing relation or function.
1. A female ruler, superior or head: = ‘lady’, as feminine of lord (‘our most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen Victoria’); the superior of a nunnery, an abbess, prioress, etc.; spec. the title given to Benedictine nuns who have made their solemn profession (cf. Dan n.1, Dom n.1 2); also, any fully professed nun. Also figurative or transferred.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > [noun] > female
dame?c1225
governoressc1430
ruleressc1450
governess1483
gubernatrice1522
moderatrice1531
governatrice1532
gubernatrix1541
dominatrix1561
governantec1570
moderatrix1577
rectrix1588
rectress1599
moderatress1601
society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > abbess > [noun]
abbotesseOE
mothereOE
dame?c1225
abbessc1300
matriarch1606
maternity1693
domina1751
society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious superior > prioress > [noun]
dame?c1225
prioressc1300
society > faith > church government > monasticism > religious order > Order of St. Benedict > [noun] > member of > female
dame?c1225
Benedictiness1872
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 314 Almichtin god ȝeoue ure dame hisgrace. se lengre se mare.
c1420 Chron. Vilod. 774 When he [= she] was hurr' Abbas and hurr' Dame.
c1425 Hampole's Psalter Metr. Pref. 24 At a worthy recluse prayer cald dame Merget kyrkby.
c1490 Promptorium Parvulorum 113 (MS. K) Dame, domina.
c1590 in Publ. Catholic Rec. Soc. (1908) 5 192 Dame Isabel Whitehead an ancient religious woman.
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 440 Reason, which is the principal faculty and power of the soule..is called of them the Queene, Dame & Mistres.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ix. 612 Sovran of Creatures, universal Dame . View more context for this quotation
1677 T. Gale Court of Gentiles: Pt. III iii. 139 Zenobia Queen of Arabia and Dame of Antioch.
a1700 Publ. Catholic Rec. Soc. (1911) 9 335 She leaving the world went over to the English Benedictine Dames of our Blessed Lady of Consolation.
a1700 Publ. Catholic Rec. Soc. (1911) 9 339 The Rd Dames, Dame Magdalena, D. Augustina, D. Maria, and D. Clementia.
1795 in B. N. Ward Dawn Catholic Revival (1909) II. xxiii. 82 The three houses of English Dames at Paris.
1867 A. T. Drane Christian Schools II. iv. 179 Dame Mabel Wafre, abbess of Godstow.
1908 P. Nolan (title) The Irish Dames of Ypres, being a history of the Royal Irish Abbey of Ypres.
2.
a. The ‘lady’ of the house, the mistress of a household, a housewife. Now archaic or dialect ( my dame = my wife, my ‘missus’), or humorously applied to an aged housewife.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [noun]
damec1330
matrona1393
feme sole1600
feme covert1602
lucky1629
ma'am1765
marm1865
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant by type of accommodation > [noun] > inhabitant of house > mistress of household
housewifec1225
dam1297
damec1330
banatee1825
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace 15150 At Londone anoþer kyng gan wone..Saberk þan was his name, Dame Rytula highte his dame.
c1386 G. Chaucer Shipman's Tale 356 I toke vnto our dame Ȝoure wif at home þe same gold aȝein.
1483 Cath. Angl. 89 Dame; vbi a huswyfe.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. xxiv. A The master as the seruant, the dame like the mayde.
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Confirmacion f. xii*v Fathers, mothers, maisters and dames.
1593 T. Bilson Perpetual Govt. Christes Church 58 Every poor woman that hath either maid, or apprentise is called Dame: and yet Dame is as much as Domina and used to Ladies of greatest account, as Dame Isabel and Madam.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 57 Vpon This day, she was..Both Dame and Seruant: Welcom'd all: seru'd all. View more context for this quotation
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxv. 147 The Gentry love both him and my Dame; and the poor People adore them.
1833 Carlyle in Emerson Eng. Traits i. 9 My dame makes it a rule to give to every son of Adam bread to eat.
1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 43 My deeam, my mistress, my wife. An aud deeam: an old woman.
b. transferred.
ΚΠ
1645 J. Milton L'Allegro in Poems 32 The Cock..Stoutly struts his Dames before.
c. A girl; a woman. Chiefly U.S. slang. Also dialect (see Eng. Dial. Dict.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > woman > [noun]
wifeeOE
womaneOE
womanOE
queanOE
brideOE
viragoc1000
to wifeOE
burdc1225
ladyc1225
carlinec1375
stotc1386
marec1387
pigsneyc1390
fellowa1393
piecec1400
femalea1425
goddessa1450
fairc1450
womankindc1450
fellowessa1500
femininea1513
tega1529
sister?1532
minikinc1540
wyec1540
placket1547
pig's eye1553
hen?1555
ware1558
pussy?a1560
jade1560
feme1566
gentlewoman1567
mort1567
pinnacea1568
jug1569
rowen1575
tarleather1575
mumps1576
skirt1578
piga1586
rib?1590
puppy1592
smock1592
maness1594
sloy1596
Madonna1602
moll1604
periwinkle1604
Partlet1607
rib of man1609
womanship?1609
modicum1611
Gypsy1612
petticoata1616
runniona1616
birda1627
lucky1629
she-man1640
her1646
lost rib1647
uptails1671
cow1696
tittup1696
cummer17..
wife1702
she-woman1703
person1704
molly1706
fusby1707
goody1708
riding hood1718
birdie1720
faggot1722
piece of goods1727
woman body1771
she-male1776
biddy1785
bitch1785
covess1789
gin1790
pintail1792
buer1807
femme1814
bibi1816
Judy1819
a bit (also bundle) of muslin1823
wifie1823
craft1829
shickster?1834
heifer1835
mot1837
tit1837
Sitt1838
strap1842
hay-bag1851
bint1855
popsy1855
tart1864
woman's woman1868
to deliver the goods1870
chapess1871
Dona1874
girl1878
ladykind1878
mivvy1881
dudess1883
dudette1883
dudine1883
tid1888
totty1890
tootsy1895
floozy1899
dame1902
jane1906
Tom1906
frail1908
bit of stuff1909
quim1909
babe1911
broad1914
muff1914
manhole1916
number1919
rossie1922
bit1923
man's woman1928
scupper1935
split1935
rye mort1936
totsy1938
leg1939
skinny1941
Richard1950
potato1957
scow1960
wimmin1975
womyn1975
womxn1991
1902 Commentator (N.Y.) Jan. 104 Look to de frowsy dames erbout us.
1923 G. McKnight Eng. Words iv. 61 In the vocabulary of modern youth, chivalry is dead... A girl is a jane, a dame, a moll, [etc.].
1928 Punch 12 Dec. 666/1 Skid is reputed to be a squire of dames (‘dame’ being apparently the American feminine of ‘guy’).
1929 G. Mitchell Myst. Butcher's Shop xvii. 192 Here was this frightful dame named Bradley coming and invading the place.
1936 A. Huxley Eyeless in Gaza xxv. 353 Mr. Beavis..began to describe his researches into modern American slang... ‘I might say you had a dame complex, Anthony.’
a1961 J. Cannan All is Discovered (1962) iii. 77 I've never set eyes on the dame.
d. In modern pantomime, a comic character, that of a middle-aged woman, traditionally played by a man.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > pantomime > [noun] > role or character
hobby-horse1557
harlequin1590
play-mare1598
Columbinea1723
clown1727
hobby1778
pantaloon1781
harlequiness1785
Pierrot?1789
pierrette1847
harlequina1867
dobby1879
principal boy1892
principal girl1893
dame1902
1902 in A. E. Wilson Prime Minister of Mirth (1956) iii. 53 Mr. Robey is different. To a stage which for years had been inhabited by pantomime ‘dames’, by the drink comedian, by the lodger and by the lodger's wife he came.
1925 M. W. Disher Clowns & Pantomimes iii. 44 The wife of Noah..is sister to the dame of pantomime.
1933 G. Robey Looking Back on Life xi. 88 My most important pantomimes..were in the big cities... I was often cast for the Dame.
1946 M. Dickens Happy Prisoner ix. 189 He had been afraid they were going to guy her up like a pantomime dame.
1950 Oxf. Junior Encycl. IX. 273/2 Pantomimes..all have their stock characters—the Fairy Queen, the Demon King, the Clown, the Dame (played by a male comedian).
1961 E. Williams George xxiii. 368 He was like a lively don who spends his vacs playing dame in some witty pantomime.
3. The mistress of a private elementary school for children. (Usually an old woman or widow.) Now almost Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > teaching > teacher > schoolteacher or schoolmaster > [noun] > elementary teacher
schooldame1577
abecedary1596
dame1641
kindergarten teacher1863
kindergartener1868
infant mistress1921
1641 J. Winthrop Hist. New Eng. (1826) (modernized text) II. 50 He bewailed..his disobedience to his parents, his slighting and despising their instructions and the instuctions of his dame.
1849 W. Irving Oliver Goldsmith (rev. ed.) i. 22 Those good old motherly dames, found in every village, who cluck together the whole callow brood..to teach them their letters.
4. At Eton: A matron who keeps a boarding-house for boys at the school. (Also applied to a man who does the same.)
ΘΚΠ
society > education > educational administration > school administration > [noun] > matron of boarding house
damec1737
c1737 H. Walpole Let. in Lett. to G. Montagu (1818) 9 A dame over the way, that has just locked in her boarders.
1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 52 Do you bid the Dames of old Eton appear.
1844 B. Disraeli Coningsby I. i. ii. 27 The room in the Dame's house where we first order our own breakfast.
1886 E. Dowden Life Shelley I. 22 Hexter..being, not only an Eton writing-master and a ‘dame’, but also a magistrate of the county.
II. Expressing rank or honour.† 6.
5. A form of address originally used to a lady of rank, or a woman of position; the female counterpart of Sire; = My lady, Madam: gradually extended to women of lower rank, and, after the 16th cent., left to these (cf. sense 2, 6c).
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > title > title or form of address for persons of rank > [noun] > for woman of rank
my ladyOE
ladyOE
damea1225
ladyshipa1393
madam1543
ladydom?1553
gentlewoman1566
young ladyship1702
milady1778
Sitt1838
a1225 Leg. Kath. 2080 Hu nu, dame, dotestu? Cwen, acangestu nu?
a1300 Floriz & Bl. 56 Dame, he sede, þis hail is þin.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 8349 Dame, I did þe hider call, Als mi wedded wijf of all.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Reeve's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 36 Ther dorste no wight clepen hire but dame.
a1440 Sir Eglam. 871 ‘Dame,’ he seyde to the qwene, ‘Mekylle of solas have we sene.’
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 330 A wedow thar duelt..‘Fayr deyme,’ he said, ‘go get sum meit for me’.
?a1500 (a1475) Wright's Chaste Wife (1869) l. 139 Thus seyd the wyfe of the hows, ‘Syr, howe faryth my swete spouse..?’ ‘Sertes, dame,’ he seyd, ‘wele’.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) iv. iv. 29 Fare thee well Dame, what ere becomes of me, This is a Soldiers kisse. View more context for this quotation
1669 W. Penn No Cross, No Crown x. §5 Now ..men of ordinary Trades in England [are called] Sir, and their Wives, Dame; (which is the legal Title of a Lady), or else Mistress.
1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 106 How much was it Dame?
a. Prefixed as a title to the name of a lady or woman of rank; = Lady, Mistress, Miss. Now only figurative in personifications, as Dame Fortune, Dame Nature.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > title > title or form of address for persons of rank > [noun] > for woman of rank > prefixed to name
dam1297
damec1305
madama1375
madame1617
the1730
La1869
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > title > title or form of address for persons of rank > [noun] > for woman of rank > for names of goddesses or personifications
ladyc1275
Dame Fortunec1305
the world > existence and causation > existence > materiality > [noun] > nature > personified as a female being
naturea1393
motherc1525
workmistress1568
Dame Nature1669
c1305 Saints' Lives in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 71 Tuei maidenes clene ynou hire douȝtren were also Dame Margerie and dame Alice..Dame Mabille þe gode moder þis children louede ynou.
c1386 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 151 The Emperours doghter dame Custance.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 23719 Dame [Gött. Dam] fortune turnes þan hir quele.
1413 J. Lydgate Pilgr. of Sowle (1859) i. i. 1 The noble worthy lady dame Misericord.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 114 Me thocht dame Fortoun..Stude me beforne.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 119 Alexander king of Scottes maryed dame Jane the sister of king Henry.
1593 [see sense 2a]. 1600 F. Thynne Emblemes & Epigr. (1876) 59 Dame Lais is a puritane.
1669 A. Browne Ars Pictoria (1675) 14 Dame Nature is extremely Various in her Representations.
b. The legal title prefixed to the name and surname of the wife of a knight or baronet, for which Lady prefixed to the surname is in common use.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > title > title or form of address for persons of rank > [noun] > for woman of rank > prefixed to name of wife of knight
dame1611
1611 Patents creating baronets in Selden Titles Hon. ii. v. §46 Quod uxores..gaudeant hac appellatione, videlicet Anglice, Lady, Madame, et Dame respective, secundum usum loquendi.
1631 J. Selden Titles of Honor (ed. 2) ii. ix. §2. 879 By custome..the Ladies that are Knights wiues are in conueyance for the most part stiled Dames, and other Ladies only of greater honor, Ladies, which we see is a title much more frequently giuen with vs to this sex then Lord to males.
1648 W. Prynne Plea for Lords 42 Dame Alice Piers was brought before the lords.
1661 Protests Lords I. 19 Sir Edward Powell Knt. and Brt., and Dame Mary his wife.
1793 in J. L. Chester Westm. Abbey Reg. (1876) 452 Dame Sidney Hawkins [relict of a knight] died the 18th.
c. Prefixed to the surname of a housewife, an elderly matron or schoolmistress. archaic or dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > behaviour > good behaviour > courtesy > courteous forms of address or title > [noun] > title > for a woman > for married woman
damec1300
mistress?c1450
Mrs1485
goodwife1497
goody1559
metreza1604
miss1770
ma1951
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 558 [Grim] bar him hom to hise cleue, And bi-taucte him dame leue [his wife].
1575 W. Stevenson Gammer Gurtons Nedle Prol. sig. Aii Dame Chat her deare gossyp. [Also called ‘Goodwife Chat’, ‘Mother Chat’.]
1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1712 I. 12 He was first taught to read English by Dame Oliver, a widow, who kept a school for young children in Lichfield.
a1894 Chapbook title. The History of Dame Trot and her Cat.
7.
a. The wife or daughter of a lord; a woman of rank, a lady. Now historical or poetic.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > [noun] > person of > woman of
ladyc1225
ladyheada1393
dame1530
grande dame1775
pig-faced lady1816
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > lady
ladyc1225
duchess1393
dame1530
Dona1622
Donna1670
grande dame1775
ladyship1785
señora1818
milady1824
prima donna1834
senhora1841
seigneuress1888
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 212/1 Dame, a lady, dame.
?a1562 G. Cavendish Life Wolsey (1959) 26 Your..banquette, where was assembled such a number of excellent fair dames.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. i. 288 The fairest dame That liu'd, that lou'd, that lik't, that look't with cheere. View more context for this quotation
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida i. iii. 279 Heele say in Troy..The Grecian dames are sun-burnt. View more context for this quotation
1630 J. Wadsworth Eng. Spanish Pilgrime (new ed.) vii. 73 They..intice likewise the young Dames.
1712 A. Pope tr. Ovid Sapho to Phaon in tr. Ovid Epist. (ed. 8) 8 No more the Lesbian Dames my Passion move.
1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 13 Dames of ancient days Have led their children through the mirthful maze.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 383 Dames of high rank visited him [Claude Duval] in prison.
1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh iii. 101 She had the low voice of your English dames.
b. A woman in rank next below a lady: the wife of a knight, squire, citizen, yeoman. archaic or dialect.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [noun] > wife
wifeeOE
womanc1275
peerc1330
spousessc1384
ladyc1390
good lady1502
girl?a1513
spousage1513
little lady1523
the weaker vessel1526
companion1535
wedlock1566
Mrs1572
dame1574
rib?1590
feme1595
fathom1602
feme covert1602
shrew1606
wife of one's bosom1611
kickie-wickiea1616
heifer1616
sposa1624
bosom-partner1633
goodwife1654
little woman1715
squaw1767
the Mrs1821
missus1823
maw1826
lady wife1840
tart1864
mistress1873
mama1916
ball and chain1921
trouble and strife1929
old boot1958
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > lady > in rank next below lady
dame1574
1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 31 The Ladies and dames that serue you, & the gallants & Courtiers that attende vppon you.
1752 S. Johnson Rambler No. 189. ⁋7 The city dame who talks of her visits at great houses, where she happens to know the cook-maid.
1864 E. Capern Devon Provincialism Dame, an appellation bestowed on yeomen's wives.
c. The title of female members of the Primrose League of the same rank as the ‘knights’.
ΚΠ
1890 G. S. Lane Fox Primrose League 13 The members of the League consist of Knights, Dames, and Associates (men and women).
d. The title of women members of the Order of the British Empire; also Dame Commander, Dame Grand Cross.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > title > title or form of address for persons of rank > [noun] > for woman of rank > female member of Order of British Empire
dame1917
1917 Times 2 June 6/1 The New Order of the British Empire... Degrees of classification for women,..(1) Dame Grand Cross, (2) Dame Commander, (3) Dame Companion.
1930 Times 1 Jan. 14 Made a Dame of the Order of the British Empire for her services to aviation.
III. A mother; = dam n.2† 8. A mother. Obsolete.
a. of human beings.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > parent > mother > [noun]
mothereOE
dame?c1225
merea1275
childbearera1382
genitricea1500
mammy1523
dama1547
mama1555
genetrix1561
mam1570
mum?1595
old lady1599
authoressc1603
mam1608
genitress1610
old woman1668
old girl1745
mummy1768
momma1810
madre1815
maw1826
ma1829
marm1835
mater1843
mom1846
mommy1846
maternal1867
motherkins1870
muvver1871
mumsy1876
mamacita1887
mutti1905
birth mother1906
duchess1909
amma1913
momsey1914
mums1915
moms1925
mata1945
baby-mother1966
mama1982
old dear1985
baby-mama1986
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 170 As þe moder wið hire ȝeunge deorling. flið from hit..& let hit sitten ane & Loken ȝeorne abuten cleopie. Dame dame & hwepen.
c1275 in Old Eng. Misc. 190 Hire sire and hire dame þreteþ hire to bete.
c1386 G. Chaucer Manciple's Tale 213 Thus taughte me my dame; My sone [etc.].
c1400 Test. Love (1560) Prol. 272/1 In such wordes as wee learneden of our dames tongue.
?c1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 622 To bydde this chylde go sucke his dame.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. K4 The Sire, the sonne, the Dame and daughter die. View more context for this quotation
b. of animals; = dam n.2 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > family unit > [noun] > female > parent
mothereOE
damc1320
damec1320
c1320 tr. J. Bonaventura Medit. 286 As chekenes crepyn vndyr þe dame wyng.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. (1839) xxx. 302 Þei putten forth anon the ȝonge foles and maken hem to nyȝen after hire dames.
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Matt. xxi. f. 100 This she asse is the dame of the fole.
1598 B. Yong tr. A. Pérez 2nd Pt. Diana in tr. J. de Montemayor Diana 219 Despoyling the harmlesse Nightingale of her deerest pretie ones, and the sorrowfull Dame fluttering vp and downe ouer their heads.
1712 P. Blair in Philos. Trans. 1710–12 (Royal Soc.) 27 63 They quit their Dame at 6 Months.
IV. In Chess.† 9. The queen at chess. [= French dame.] Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > board game > chess > [noun] > pieces > queen
fersc1369
ladyc1450
queenc1450
dame1574
Amazon1656
1574 E. Hellowes tr. A. de Guevara Familiar Epist. 369 Some times wee were wont to plai at the chesse..and [I] cannot aduise mee that you gaue me the dame.
Compounds
dame-errant n. [after knight-errant] Apparently an isolated use.
ΚΠ
1866 C. M. Yonge Cameos lxxx, in Monthly Packet Oct. 317 Henry received her with the courtesy due to a distressed dame errant.
dame-school n. (also dame's school) an elementary school for children kept by a dame.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > place of education > school > [noun] > primary school
under-school1629
primer schoola1680
proseminary1774
primary school1792
dame-schoola1817
pettya1827
ma'am-school1838
elementary school1841
primary1851
prep school1862
minding-school1864
junior school1871
tother school1881
marm school1889
preparatory1904
terakoya1909
prep1924
prepper1956
a1817 J. Austen Generous Curate in Volume First (1954) 73 A twopenny Dame's School in the village.
1821 M. Edgeworth Rosamund II. 65 The name of this ‘tiny play’..‘The Dame-school Holiday.’
1876 J. Grant Hist. Burgh Schools Scotl. ii. xvi. 527 Dame schools..have..ceased to exist in Scotland.
dame's rocket n. dame's violet (see rocket n.4 3).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > pea flowers > violet and allied flowers > violet
apple leafa1200
violetc1330
violac1430
March violet1568
blue violet1656
sweet-scented violet1731
Canada violet1771
ladies' delight1809
dame's rocket1866
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 987/2 Rocket, Dame's, Hesperis matronalis.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1894; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1225