old ladyn.

Brit.

/ˌəʊl(d) ˈleɪdi/, U.S.

/ˌoʊ(ld) ˈleɪdi/

Forms: see old adj. and lady n. Also with capital initials.

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: old adj., lady n.

Etymology: < old adj. + lady n. Compare slightly earlier old gentleman n.

I. A person.

a. An elderly woman; a woman who is past middle age.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [noun]

old wifeeOE

old womanOE

trota1375

carlinec1375

cronec1386

vecke1390

monea1393

hagc1400

ribibec1405

aunt?a1425

crate14..

witchc1475

mauda1500

mackabroine1546

grandam?1550

grannam1565

old lady1575

beldam1580

lucky1629

granny1634

patriarchess1639

runta1652

harridan1699

grimalkin1798

mama1810

tante1815

wifie1823

maw1826

old dear1836

tante1845

Mother Bunch1847

douairière1869

dowager1870

veteraness1880

old trout1897

tab1909

bag1924

crow1925

ma1932

Skinny Liz1940

old bag1947

old boot1958

tannie1958

LOL1960

1575 G. Gascoigne Glasse of Gouernem. I. v I might haue liued gallantly and well prouided with my mother, who (though I say it) is a good old Lady in Valentia.

1604 J. Marston Malcontent ii. iv. sig. D2 He is the most exquisite in forging of veines,..dying of haire,..that euer made an ould ladie gratious by torch-light.

1653 J. Ford Queen iv. l. 37 Here every old lady is cheaper then a proctor, and will as finely convey an open act, without any danger of a consistory.

1707 Diverting Muse i. 6 An Old Lady, who has bury'd Six Husbands and sets up for the Seventh.

1773 S. Johnson Let. 17 Aug. (1992) II. 53 An old Lady who talks broad Scotch with a paralytick voice.

1797 Monthly Mag. 3 537 He was of a gallanting turn, although he only made love to old ladies.

1801 C. B. Brown Jane Talbot xliii. 229 The old lady spent the whole day knitting.

1869 W. S. Gilbert Bab Ballads 193 He loved to send old ladies wrong, And teach their feet to stray.

1945 A. Huxley Time must have Stop (new ed.) viii. 91 Paul De Vries had already sat in at a number of the old lady's séances.

2001 Times 24 Apr. ii. 8/2 I have been pictured as..an old lady whose courting days ended in spinsterhood.

b. colloquial. A familiar or affectionate form of address for an old woman. Cf. old adj. 16b.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [noun] > wife > one's wife

peculiar1615

old woman1668

old girl1745

the Mrs1821

old lady1836

old Dutcha1889

duchess1909

ever-loving1939

her indoors1979

1836 C. Dickens Let. 21 Mar. (1965) I. 141 Let me have particular word how your rheumatism is, old lady.

1859 E. C. Gaskell Lett. (1966) 545 You must not send us any more work to do, old lady, for Caroline is slow, & there is a great deal to do.

1915 ‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions (new ed.) 142 Look here, old lady, here's a gadget I got for you.

1997 BBC Top Gear Mag. Nov. 263/2 I'm sorry, old lady, you seem to have mistaken the vehicle I am driving for the local hoppa bus.

2. colloquial. A person's mother; a man's wife or female partner. Frequently with possessive adjective. Cf. old woman n. 1c.

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

1599 G. Chapman Humerous Dayes Myrth sig. C3 This is but the beginning of sport betweene this fine lord and his old lady.

?1618 Lady M. Bell Let. in Norfolk Rec. Soc. (1941) XIV. 46 My ould Lady and I being together..he came unto me and sayde; O madame [etc.].

1730 J. Miller Humours Oxf. iv. 56 Tru. Pr'ythee, what can'st thou mean by this Masquerade? Gain. To make my old Lady believe, if I can, that I am the very Person you took me for.

1773 R. Graves Spiritual Quixote I. viii. 287 Application was made to my old Lady by another gentleman, of a much larger fortune.

1837–40 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 2nd Ser. viii My old lady..is agoin' for to give our Arabella..a let off to-night.

1871 E. Eggleston Hoosier School-master xvii. 134 Here's the old lady and Shocky.

1932 D. L. Sayers Have his Carcase xii. 152 ‘There, there, Mother,’ muttered Henry... ‘Bit of a staggerer for the old lady, this.’

1967 C. Himes Black on Black (1973) 133 A man called T-bone Smith sat..looking at television with his old lady, Tang.

1991 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 21 Apr. 44/7 The following year they moved in together and as his ‘old lady’ she put her career on hold to be by his side.

2000 R. Barger et al. Hell's Angel v. 85 His old lady was screaming, so one of the Misfits bitch-slapped her.

3. colloquial and depreciative. A timid or fussy man. Cf. old woman n. 1a.

ΚΠ

1826 Lancet 29 July 563/1 The old ladies have lived too long; they abuse the privileges of anility, and they have become a public, as well as a professional nuisance.

1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. xvii. 150 Old ladies of both sexes.

1938 H. Nicolson Diary 10 Nov. (1966) 378 This memorandum was not at all liked by the old ladies of the Executive.

1992 W. McGowan Only Man is Vile (1993) xvi. 326 Come on, don't be such an old lady.

2000 N. DeMille Lion's Game xil. 365 Paul's an old lady, if you want my opinion.

4. U.S. slang (chiefly Prison slang). A passive or unwilling (usually male) partner in a homosexual relationship.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male > who takes on a more passive role

wife1549

whore1609

pogue1919

queen1919

old lady1937

she-male1952

1937 A. Herndon Let me Live 210 The principal victims of these sexual orgies were mere children.., boys who had been convicted of petty thievery. The prisoners..called them ‘Old Ladies’.

1953 Collier's 30 Oct. 76 A vot..wears no lipstick and acts like a boy. She can have an ‘old lady’.

1990 J. Welch Indian Lawyer 13 At least Harwood had made sure he didn't become somebody's old lady.

II. Figurative and extended uses.

5. A large, chocolate brown, European noctuid moth, Mormo maura, with paler markings on its wings. Usually with the.

ΘΚΠ

the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Caradrinidae > mania maura

old lady1775

1775 M. Harris Eng. Lepidoptera 33 Lady, Old.

1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 99 The Old Lady appears the end of July or beginning of August.

1866 J. Rennie in J. G. Wood Homes without Hands xxxi. 611 It [sc. a caterpillar] left its cork house, and travelled about eighteen inches, selected the ‘old lady’ moth (Mormo maura), one of the largest insects in the drawer, and built a new apartment.

1983 J. Heath & A. M. Emmet Moths & Butterflies Great Brit. & Ireland X. 159/1 The Old Lady... Wings broad, full and rounded, loosely scaled.

6. U.S. Nautical colloquial. With the. A ship, esp. an old one.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > [noun] > old or useless vessel

hull1582

coffin1833

ballyhoo1836

old lady1841

rack-heap1850

wreck1896

crock1903

rust bucket1944

1841 H. J. Mercier & W. Gallop Life in Man-of-War 76 We'll have to take some of the old lady's muslin off before supper.

1933 F. Riesenberg Log of Sea 55 The old lady..was..driven almost beyond the power of endurance.

1967 W. Lord Incredible Victory 33 They certainly didn't wish the ‘Old Lady’ ill, but the damage from that bomb should keep her in dry dock for a long time.

1998 Yachts & Yachting 21 Aug. 10/3 While the ‘old lady’ was only slightly shaken by the collision, it was the end of ‘Biohat's’ racing as her bow was split open.

Phrases

the Old Lady of (also in) Threadneedle Street n. [see Threadneedle Street n.] (a personification of) the Bank of England. [The caption of Gillray's cartoon was based on a speech in the House of Commons by R. B. Sheridan on 24 March 1797 in which he referred to the Bank of England as ‘an elderly lady in the City of great credit and long standing’ (see Notes & Queries 197 (1952) 2).]

ΚΠ

1797 J. Gillray Cartoon 22 May in W. M. Acres Bank of Eng. from Within (1931) Pl. xxxvi (caption) Political Ravishment, or The Old Lady of Threadneedle-Street in danger!

1803 Monthly Rev. Mar. 315 The Old Lady of Threadneedle street was forced to part with more of her heart's blood than her constitution could well bear.

1884 Peel City Guardian No. 26. 2/1 The rest of the ‘Old Lady in Threadneedle-street’ remained unbroken.

1974 G. Vaizey Tangled Web ii. 26 He..is highly respected by the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.

2007 Daily Mail (Nexis) 6 Oct. 105 Balance is often not the forte of senior citizens, but the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street is looking particularly doddery.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	old lady
释义	old ladyn. Brit. /ˌəʊl(d) ˈleɪdi/, U.S. /ˌoʊ(ld) ˈleɪdi/ Forms: see old adj. and lady n. Also with capital initials. Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: old adj., lady n. Etymology: < old adj. + lady n. Compare slightly earlier old gentleman n. I. A person. 1. a. An elderly woman; a woman who is past middle age. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [noun] old wifeeOE old womanOE trota1375 carlinec1375 cronec1386 vecke1390 monea1393 hagc1400 ribibec1405 aunt?a1425 crate14.. witchc1475 mauda1500 mackabroine1546 grandam?1550 grannam1565 old lady1575 beldam1580 lucky1629 granny1634 patriarchess1639 runta1652 harridan1699 grimalkin1798 mama1810 tante1815 wifie1823 maw1826 old dear1836 tante1845 Mother Bunch1847 douairière1869 dowager1870 veteraness1880 old trout1897 tab1909 bag1924 crow1925 ma1932 Skinny Liz1940 old bag1947 old boot1958 tannie1958 LOL1960 1575 G. Gascoigne Glasse of Gouernem. I. v I might haue liued gallantly and well prouided with my mother, who (though I say it) is a good old Lady in Valentia. 1604 J. Marston Malcontent ii. iv. sig. D2 He is the most exquisite in forging of veines,..dying of haire,..that euer made an ould ladie gratious by torch-light. 1653 J. Ford Queen iv. l. 37 Here every old lady is cheaper then a proctor, and will as finely convey an open act, without any danger of a consistory. 1707 Diverting Muse i. 6 An Old Lady, who has bury'd Six Husbands and sets up for the Seventh. 1773 S. Johnson Let. 17 Aug. (1992) II. 53 An old Lady who talks broad Scotch with a paralytick voice. 1797 Monthly Mag. 3 537 He was of a gallanting turn, although he only made love to old ladies. 1801 C. B. Brown Jane Talbot xliii. 229 The old lady spent the whole day knitting. 1869 W. S. Gilbert Bab Ballads 193 He loved to send old ladies wrong, And teach their feet to stray. 1945 A. Huxley Time must have Stop (new ed.) viii. 91 Paul De Vries had already sat in at a number of the old lady's séances. 2001 Times 24 Apr. ii. 8/2 I have been pictured as..an old lady whose courting days ended in spinsterhood. b. colloquial. A familiar or affectionate form of address for an old woman. Cf. old adj. 16b. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [noun] > wife > one's wife peculiar1615 old woman1668 old girl1745 the Mrs1821 old lady1836 old Dutcha1889 duchess1909 ever-loving1939 her indoors1979 1836 C. Dickens Let. 21 Mar. (1965) I. 141 Let me have particular word how your rheumatism is, old lady. 1859 E. C. Gaskell Lett. (1966) 545 You must not send us any more work to do, old lady, for Caroline is slow, & there is a great deal to do. 1915 ‘Bartimeus’ Naval Occasions (new ed.) 142 Look here, old lady, here's a gadget I got for you. 1997 BBC Top Gear Mag. Nov. 263/2 I'm sorry, old lady, you seem to have mistaken the vehicle I am driving for the local hoppa bus. 2. colloquial. A person's mother; a man's wife or female partner. Frequently with possessive adjective. Cf. old woman n. 1c. 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 1599 G. Chapman Humerous Dayes Myrth sig. C3 This is but the beginning of sport betweene this fine lord and his old lady. ?1618 Lady M. Bell Let. in Norfolk Rec. Soc. (1941) XIV. 46 My ould Lady and I being together..he came unto me and sayde; O madame [etc.]. 1730 J. Miller Humours Oxf. iv. 56 Tru. Pr'ythee, what can'st thou mean by this Masquerade? Gain. To make my old Lady believe, if I can, that I am the very Person you took me for. 1773 R. Graves Spiritual Quixote I. viii. 287 Application was made to my old Lady by another gentleman, of a much larger fortune. 1837–40 T. C. Haliburton Clockmaker 2nd Ser. viii My old lady..is agoin' for to give our Arabella..a let off to-night. 1871 E. Eggleston Hoosier School-master xvii. 134 Here's the old lady and Shocky. 1932 D. L. Sayers Have his Carcase xii. 152 ‘There, there, Mother,’ muttered Henry... ‘Bit of a staggerer for the old lady, this.’ 1967 C. Himes Black on Black (1973) 133 A man called T-bone Smith sat..looking at television with his old lady, Tang. 1991 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 21 Apr. 44/7 The following year they moved in together and as his ‘old lady’ she put her career on hold to be by his side. 2000 R. Barger et al. Hell's Angel v. 85 His old lady was screaming, so one of the Misfits bitch-slapped her. 3. colloquial and depreciative. A timid or fussy man. Cf. old woman n. 1a. ΚΠ 1826 Lancet 29 July 563/1 The old ladies have lived too long; they abuse the privileges of anility, and they have become a public, as well as a professional nuisance. 1856 C. Dickens Little Dorrit (1857) i. xvii. 150 Old ladies of both sexes. 1938 H. Nicolson Diary 10 Nov. (1966) 378 This memorandum was not at all liked by the old ladies of the Executive. 1992 W. McGowan Only Man is Vile (1993) xvi. 326 Come on, don't be such an old lady. 2000 N. DeMille Lion's Game xil. 365 Paul's an old lady, if you want my opinion. 4. U.S. slang (chiefly Prison slang). A passive or unwilling (usually male) partner in a homosexual relationship. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > male > who takes on a more passive role wife1549 whore1609 pogue1919 queen1919 old lady1937 she-male1952 1937 A. Herndon Let me Live 210 The principal victims of these sexual orgies were mere children.., boys who had been convicted of petty thievery. The prisoners..called them ‘Old Ladies’. 1953 Collier's 30 Oct. 76 A vot..wears no lipstick and acts like a boy. She can have an ‘old lady’. 1990 J. Welch Indian Lawyer 13 At least Harwood had made sure he didn't become somebody's old lady. II. Figurative and extended uses. 5. A large, chocolate brown, European noctuid moth, Mormo maura, with paler markings on its wings. Usually with the. ΘΚΠ the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > Heterocera > [noun] > family Caradrinidae > mania maura old lady1775 1775 M. Harris Eng. Lepidoptera 33 Lady, Old. 1832 J. Rennie Conspectus Butterflies & Moths Brit. 99 The Old Lady appears the end of July or beginning of August. 1866 J. Rennie in J. G. Wood Homes without Hands xxxi. 611 It [sc. a caterpillar] left its cork house, and travelled about eighteen inches, selected the ‘old lady’ moth (Mormo maura), one of the largest insects in the drawer, and built a new apartment. 1983 J. Heath & A. M. Emmet Moths & Butterflies Great Brit. & Ireland X. 159/1 The Old Lady... Wings broad, full and rounded, loosely scaled. 6. U.S. Nautical colloquial. With the. A ship, esp. an old one. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > [noun] > old or useless vessel hull1582 coffin1833 ballyhoo1836 old lady1841 rack-heap1850 wreck1896 crock1903 rust bucket1944 1841 H. J. Mercier & W. Gallop Life in Man-of-War 76 We'll have to take some of the old lady's muslin off before supper. 1933 F. Riesenberg Log of Sea 55 The old lady..was..driven almost beyond the power of endurance. 1967 W. Lord Incredible Victory 33 They certainly didn't wish the ‘Old Lady’ ill, but the damage from that bomb should keep her in dry dock for a long time. 1998 Yachts & Yachting 21 Aug. 10/3 While the ‘old lady’ was only slightly shaken by the collision, it was the end of ‘Biohat's’ racing as her bow was split open. Phrases the Old Lady of (also in) Threadneedle Street n. [see Threadneedle Street n.] (a personification of) the Bank of England. [The caption of Gillray's cartoon was based on a speech in the House of Commons by R. B. Sheridan on 24 March 1797 in which he referred to the Bank of England as ‘an elderly lady in the City of great credit and long standing’ (see Notes & Queries 197 (1952) 2).] ΚΠ 1797 J. Gillray Cartoon 22 May in W. M. Acres Bank of Eng. from Within (1931) Pl. xxxvi (caption) Political Ravishment, or The Old Lady of Threadneedle-Street in danger! 1803 Monthly Rev. Mar. 315 The Old Lady of Threadneedle street was forced to part with more of her heart's blood than her constitution could well bear. 1884 Peel City Guardian No. 26. 2/1 The rest of the ‘Old Lady in Threadneedle-street’ remained unbroken. 1974 G. Vaizey Tangled Web ii. 26 He..is highly respected by the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street. 2007 Daily Mail (Nexis) 6 Oct. 105 Balance is often not the forte of senior citizens, but the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street is looking particularly doddery. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.1575
随便看	reassemble reassembled reassembler reassembles reassemblies reassembling reassembly reassert reassert itself reasserted reasserting reassertion reassertions reassertor reasserts reassess reassessed reassesses reassessing reassessment reassessments reasseverate reassiege reassign reassignable