first ladyn.
/ˌfəːs(t) ˈleɪdi/, U.S. /ˌfərs(t) ˈleɪdi/ 1. The most important or prominent woman; (with of) the leading woman in a particular activity or profession.
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the mind > goodness and badness > quality of being good > pre-eminence > [noun] > chief of its or his kind
sunOE
lordOE
princec1225
primatec1384
princessc1390
giant1535
queen1554
first gentleman1584
Prester John1598
arch1605
gigant1610
principate1651
top-stone1659
first lady1677
Shakespeare1821
king1829
prius1882
aristocrat1883
Sun King1971
1677 tr. A.-N. Amelot de La Houssaie Hist. Govt. Venice ii. 127 If a Duke be married at the time of his Election, at his own peril, no Revenue is allowed for his Wife, she is only treated as the first Lady [Fr. la première Gentil-donne de l'Etat], but not as Princess.
1755 M. Mendez Double Disappointm. ii. 15 I long to carry you to my Grand chateu, and make you the first Lady in Dauphane.
1840 J. Pardoe City of Magyar III. 189 The delighted Theresa was instantly all curiousity, and insisted on knowing what the Queen was like: nay, so bent was she upon obtaining a real idea of ‘the first lady in the realm’, that she ultimately consented to reward the confidence with a kiss.
1937 Life 3 May 36/2 Norma Shearer... Widely known as the First Lady of the Screen.
1950 ‘E. Crispin’ Frequent Hearses i. 27 Madge is one of the First Ladies of British Films.
2012 Gay Times May 27/4 First Lady of British Musical Theatre Elaine Paige.
2. The wife of the chief executive of a nation or state; spec. the wife of the President of the United States.With use with reference to the wife of the President of the United States cf. earlier uses at Phrases 1, Phrases 2, Phrases 3, Phrases 4.
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society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > a or the government > head of government > [noun] > in a republic > in U.S. > wife of U.S. president
first lady1870
1870 Detroit Free Press 12 June 6 In the matter of social etiquette the ladies of Washington have never been able to agree... We know who is first lady, and we know who is second lady—the wives of the President and Vice President have unquestionably these distinctions.
1872 E. E. Briggs in Cincinnati Daily Enquirer 16 Feb. 2/5 The President and the ‘first lady’ could not visit, because if they began to pay social calls they must treat all the sovereign people alike... Besides, there is but one ‘first lady’, and if she did precisely like other women her identity would be lost. But..this is a Republic, and we don't want a ‘first lady’.
1921 Outlook 22 June 321/3 (photo caption) Lady Byng, Canada's new ‘First Lady’.
1921 Outlook 3 Aug. 540/1 Washington undoubtedly has an eye-full. What with a new President, a new First Lady, a clean sweep in the Cabinet,..the capital..will discover in its midst a veritable wealth of new and interesting figures.
1922 Soviet Russia Dec. 281/1 ‘The First Lady of Russia’ at work: Wife of M. Kalinin, worker-peasant President of the Soviet Republic.
1931 I. Gershwin Because, because (reprise) in Compl. Lyrics (1993) 184/2 I might have been First Lady, But now my past is shady. Oh, pity this poor maidie!
1947 Life 17 Nov. 45/3 South Carolina's first lady is taking to her new job well.
1965 Sunday Times 7 Nov. (Suppl.) 13/1 [Mrs. Kennedy] disapproved of the term ‘First Lady’, which had come into semi-official usage in the previous administration.
2010 Financial Times 8 May 2/4 A friend of mine..was surprised to hear a government aide trying to organize a photocall by addressing first ladies according to their nationalities: ‘Spain! We need you here. No not you, Japan!’
Phrases
P1. the first lady in the land: the most important or prominent woman in a country; spec. = sense 2.
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1741 S. Richardson Pamela II. 315 Had I marry'd the first Lady in the Land, I would not have treated her better than I will my Pamela.
1763 Lett. Sophia to Mira xv. 93 Perfections full enough..to gain the first lady in the land.
1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel I. iv. ix. 306 She was so beautiful..and not proud she! though she looked like the first lady in the land.
1861 Richmond Examiner (Virginia) 13 Aug. The suite of Mrs. Lincoln will be as numerous and brilliant as becomes her rank as first lady in the land.
1861 W. H. Russell My Diary North & South 3 Nov. (1863) II. 393 Some charming little pieces of gossip about ‘the first Lady in the Land’.
1912 A. Davies & C. F. Nirdlinger (title) The first lady in the land, or when Dolly Todd took boarders.
1945 R. T. Arnold Let. 13 Oct. in D. M. Giangreco & K. Moore Dear Harry (1999) ii. 34 It is with great relief that we realize that the FIRST lady in the land is not following in the footsteps of Eleanor.
2007 L. Porter First Queen of Eng. v. 127 She might once more have been viewed as the first lady in the land.
P2. the first lady of the land: the most important or prominent woman in a country; spec. = sense 2.
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1856 D. Vickery Sketch Town of Yeovil 20 Fit to adorn the hand of the first lady of the land.
1870 L. C. Holloway Ladies of White House 482 The young ladies..make the pilgrimage in hopes they might see Miss Betty, whom they, with woman's quickness of perception, felt was to be the first lady of the land, by presiding at the White House.
1877 M. Clemmer in Independent 15 Mar. 2/3 I wonder what the world of Vanity Fair will do..as it poses and minces before ‘the first lady of the land’?
1913 Boys' Life June 4/2 Mrs. [Woodrow] Wilson..who at present bears the proud title of ‘the first lady of the land’.
2011 M. Borrelli Politics of President's Wife iv. 147 When she is addressed as ‘the first lady of the land’, her gender role modeling becomes an aspect of the nation's identity.
P3. the first lady of the nation: = sense 2.
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1838 L. H. Sigourney in Token & Atlantic Souvenir 304 The first lady of the nation still preserved the habits of early life... The President and herself attended public worship with regularity.
1877 P. A. Hanaford Women of Cent. iii. 62 Some of them were eminently fit to be regarded when occupying the White House, as ‘the first lady of the nation’.
2007 M. McElya Clinging to Mammy iv. 132 While she was the First Lady of the nation, for UDC members, Ellen Wilson was also the First Southern Lady.
P4. the first lady of the Republic: the wife of the chief executive officer of a republic (in early use, the United States).
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1836 New-Bedford (Mass.) Mercury 1 Dec. She was not pleased with this demonstration of authority—and the future first lady of the Republic—wife of Mr. Van Buren's Vice President—took to her heels.
1877 Frank Leslie's Pop. Monthly Apr. 399/2 Mrs. Lucy Webb Hayes..for the next four years will dispense the hospitalities of the White House, and receive the homage due to the first lady of the Republic.
1889 Washington Post 3 Mar. 4/1 Mrs. Harrison, wife of the new President,..will, during her husband's term of office, be known as the ‘First Lady of the Republic’.
1979 J. M. Taylor Eva Perón (1981) iii. 39 He continued to write speeches for his star, now the First Lady of the Republic.
2003 S. Nadler Rembrandt's Jews ii. 103 It was time for the presiding minister to address the stadholder's wife, the first lady of the republic.
P5. the first lady of the United States: the wife of the President of the United States.In later use frequently in explanations of the acronym Flotus (itself after POTUS n.) rather than in independent use.
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1876 Logansport (Indiana) Daily Star 10 Mar. 2/4 The first Lady of the United States of America, Mrs. President Grant.]
1882 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily Gaz. 19 Jan. 2/5 The pure influence of her course as the first lady of the United States.
1929 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 7 Oct. 2/4 The first lady of the United States retired in the president's lodge.
1970 Washington Post 30 Sept. b2/1 The First Lady of the United States was questioned by Italian women reporters today.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 18 May a10/2 Michelle Obama is Flotus (first lady of the United States).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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