young ladyshipn.
/ˌjʌŋ ˈleɪdɪʃɪp/, U.S. /ˌjəŋ ˈleɪdiˌʃɪp/ 1. With possessive adjective: a title of respect given to a young lady, esp. one of noble rank. Also: a woman who is addressed as ‘your young ladyship’. Cf. ladyship n. 2a, 2c. Now chiefly archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun] > personality of
maidenship1602
young ladyship1702
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
1702 R. Steele Funeral iii. 41 Take care of their Young Ladyships; you shall..have a Snip in the Sale of 'em.
1783 Hist. Miss Baltimores I. 41 Her young ladyship will soon break his heart.
1856 New Monthly Mag. 106 495 This trick was the supplying their young ladyships with white wine instead of water.
1891 J. M. Barrie Little Minister I. iv. 67 ‘Hae you ever looked on a lord?’ ‘No.’ ‘Or on an auld lord's young leddyship? I have.’
1937 G. Frankau More of Us vii. 75 That bashful Hebe, too, received fair tip..Sophie, red roses and a roofer letter, With ‘kind regards to her young ladyship’, And, ‘hoping the old boy's catarrh is better’.
2010 D. Drake Legions of Fire (2011) x. 255 She wasn't taking nothing from her young ladyship.
2. The fact or condition of being a young lady; (also) the qualities associated with young ladies.
ΘΠ
the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun] > state or quality of being
sweet seventeen1791
young ladyhood1843
young-womanhood1852
young ladyship1856
young ladyishness1867
damselhood1880
flapperhood1905
flapperdom1907
flapperism1909
1856 J. E. R. Hornblower Nellie of Truro xv. 92 Charlotte and Emma, fully emancipated from the school-room, entered upon the career of young ladyship.
1871 G. M. Hopkins Let. 25 Apr. (1938) 41 There was such a youngladyship and grownupdom about the address.
1920 O. W. Firkins Jane Austen iii. 59 She will pass from girlhood to matronhood without any interval of young-ladyship.
2007 A. Jabour Scarlett's Sisters 120 She used the title ‘Miss’ followed by her surname, rather than being known by her Christian name. By doing so, young women (and their parents) announced their ‘young ladyship’ and their eligibility for marriage.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1702