Lady

See also: lady, lądy, and łady

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈleɪ.di/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈleɪ.di/, [ˈleɪ.ɾi]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Noun

Lady (plural Ladies)

1. An aristocratic title for a woman.

   Coordinate terms: Lord; Dame; Sir

   • 1931, The Bee Hive, volume 50, number 5, page 16, column 1:

     Honor guests were Ladies Smith and Walker of Port Huron, Michigan. Lady Walker has been a Maccabee for 40 years.

   1. Used with a surname or the name of a peerage, for a peeress in her own right (other than a duchess), or the wife (or widow) of a peer (other than a duke).

      Would Lady Macbeth care for dessert?

      • 1892, Oscar Wilde, “Act I”, in Lady Windermere's Fan […] ‎^[1]:

        How do you do, Lady Windermere?

   2. Used with a surname, for the wife (or widow) of a knight or baronet.

      Sir John Smith and Lady Smith accompanied the ambassador.

      • 1818, Jane Austen, Persuasion:

        Lady Russell was most anxiously zealous on the subject, and gave it much serious consideration. […] Herself, the widow of only a knight, she gave the dignity of a baronet all its due;

   3. Used as a courtesy title with the woman’s given name, for a daughter of a duke, marquess, or earl.
      • 1930, Dorothy Sayers, Strong Poison:

        He would feel that the mere idea of hearing a butler announce ‘Chief-Detective-Inspector and Lady Mary Parker’ would have something shocking about it.

   4. Used with her husband’s given name, for the wife (or widow) of a man who is the son of a duke or marquess, or the oldest son of an earl.
      • 1937, Dorothy L. Sayers, Busman's Honeymoon:

        ”[…] Excuse me, mum, wot might your married name be?”
        ”Lady Peter Wimsey,” said Harriet, feeling not at all sure that it was her name.

2. (Wicca) A high priestess.

Translations

aristocratic title for a woman

• Breton: Itron (br)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 小姐 (zh) (xiǎojiě) (Unmarried), 夫人 (zh) (fūren) (Married)

• Esperanto: Damo
• French: Dame (fr), Madame (fr)
• German: Frau (de), Herrin (de), Dame (de)
• Irish: Bantiarna
• Italian: Signora (it)
• Japanese: 令嬢 (ja) (Reijō) (daughter of a Noble), 御前 (ja) (gozen), 姫 (ja) (hime), 奥方 (ja) (okugata) (Wife of Noble)
• Korean: 아가씨 (ko) (Agassi), 부인 (ko) (bu'in) (married)
• Latin: Domina
• Macedonian: да́ма f (dáma), ле́ди f (lédi)
• Maltese: Sinjura
• Norwegian: frue (no)
• Persian: بانو (fa) (bânu)
• Polish: Pani (pl) f
• Portuguese: Senhora
• Russian: ле́ди (ru) f (lédi), да́ма (ru) f (dáma), госпожа́ (ru) f (gospožá)
• Scottish Gaelic: A' Bhean-uasal, Baintighearna (gd)
• Spanish: Señora
• Swedish: Fru
• Turkish: Leydi, hanımefendi (tr), hanım (tr)
• Vietnamese: phu nhân (vi) (夫人)
• Welsh: Arglwyddes, Boneddiges, Bonesig

Proper noun

Lady

1. The title for the (primary) female deity in female-centered religions.

   My Lady, will you not take pity on me?

   1. (in particular) The major supernatural figurehead in the Wiccan religion, a triune goddess split into the Mother, Maiden, and Crone.
      • 2002, A.J. Drew, Wicca for Couples: Making Magick Together, page 90:

        ...different stages of life as represented by our Lady as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, as well as our Lord as Master, Father, and Sage.

      • 2003, Carl McColman, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Paganism, page 46:

        The Lord and the Lady Actually, when I say that Wicca is a Goddess tradition, I'm really only telling half of the story.

      • 2004, Aurora Greenbough, Cathy Jewell, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Spells and Spellcraft, page 9:

        The Lady is often thought of as having three aspects: Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

Synonyms

• (religious senses): Goddess

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “Wicca”): Lord, Horned God, God

Coordinate terms

• (Wicca): Lord

See also

• Lord
• Our Lady

Anagrams

• DALY, Daly, Dyal, Lyda, layd, yald

German

Etymology

18th century, borrowed from English lady.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛɪ̯di/, /ˈleːdi/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: La‧dy

Noun

Lady f (genitive Lady, plural Ladys or (dated) Ladies, masculine (noble) Lord or (genteel) Gentleman or Kavalier or Herr)

1. lady, Lady (British noblewoman)
2. lady (genteel woman)

   Synonym: (feine) Dame

Declension

Declension of Lady [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Lady	die	Ladys, Ladies1
genitive	einer	der	Lady	der	Ladys, Ladies1
dative	einer	der	Lady	den	Ladys, Ladies1
accusative	eine	die	Lady	die	Ladys, Ladies1

¹Dated, now proscribed.

Derived terms

• First Lady
• ladylike, ladyhaft
• Ladyschaft

Further reading

• “Lady” in Duden online