madam
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English madame, from Old French madame, from ma (“my”) + dame (“lady”), from post-classical Latin mea domina. Doublet of Madonna.
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA(key): /ˈmæd.əm/
- (Philippine, colloquial or nonstandard) IPA(key): /məˈdam/, /məˈdæm/
- (obsolete) IPA(key): /ˈmeɪd.əm/[1]
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun[edit]
madam (plural madams)
- A polite form of address for a woman or lady.
- Synonyms: dame, woman, lady, matron, mistress
- Coordinate terms: sir, gentleman
- Mrs Grey wondered if the outfit she was trying on made her look fat. The sales assistant just said, “It suits you, madam”.
- Later, Mrs Grey was sitting in her favourite tea shop. “Would madam like the usual cream cakes and patisserie with her tea?” the waitress asked.
- The mistress of a household.
- (colloquial) A conceited or quarrelsome girl.
- Selina kept pushing and shoving during musical chairs. The nursery school teacher said she was a bad-tempered little madam.
- (slang) A woman who runs a brothel, particularly one that specializes in finding prostitutes for rich and important clients.
- Synonyms: (archaic) abbess, bawd, lady abbess, nookie-bookie, whoremistress, brothel-keeper
- Coordinate terms: (mostly for males) pimp, brothel-keeper
- After she grew too old to work as a prostitute, she became a madam.
- 1946, Mezz Mezzrow; Bernard Wolfe, Really the Blues, New York: Random House, page 54:
- I sneaked into the house and stole my sister’s Hudson-seal fur coat out of the closet, then I beat it down to a whorehouse and sold it to the madam for $150.
- (India, derogatory slang) An irritable, conceited, or contemptous woman. (used as a general term of abuse).
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
polite term of address to a woman
|
mistress of a household
|
woman who manages a brothel
|
Verb[edit]
madam (third-person singular simple present madams, present participle madaming, simple past and past participle madamed)
- (transitive) To address as "madam".
- 1905, William Clark Russell, The Yarn of Old Harbour Town (page 208)
- He bowed to me, he madamed me, he was throughout as gentlemanlike and respectful as I had ever found him when we met at Old Harbour House or in Old Harbour Town.
- 1988, Gahan Wilson, Eddy Deco's Last Caper (page 123)
- "I don't care," she said. "They'll be dead in a few minutes if you'll just do your job. Stop madaming me and get to work."
- 1905, William Clark Russell, The Yarn of Old Harbour Town (page 208)
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Meredith, L. P. (1872), “Madam”, in Every-Day Errors of Speech, Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott & Co., page 30.
Anagrams[edit]
Dutch[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Borrowed from Middle French madame.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
madam f (plural madammen or madams, diminutive madammeke n or madammeken n or madammetje n)
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- Afrikaans: madam
Middle English[edit]
Noun[edit]
madam
- Alternative form of madame
Norwegian Bokmål[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
madam m (definite singular madammen, indefinite plural madammer, definite plural madammene)
Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
madam f (definite singular madamma, indefinite plural madammer, definite plural madammene)
Swedish[edit]
Noun[edit]
madam c
- (dated) Synonym of fru
- (dated, derogatory) an old woman (generally)
Declension[edit]
| Declension of madam | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | |||
| Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | madam | madammen | madammer | madammerna |
| Genitive | madams | madammens | madammers | madammernas |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- madam in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- madam in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- madam in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
Turkish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Ottoman Turkish مادام (madam), from French madame.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
madam (definite accusative madamı, plural madamlar)
Declension[edit]
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English doublets
- English 2-syllable words
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- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English palindromes
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- English colloquialisms
- English slang
- English terms with quotations
- English derogatory terms
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English polite terms
- English terms of address
- en:Prostitution
- en:Female people
- Dutch terms borrowed from Middle French
- Dutch terms derived from Middle French
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Dutch/ɑm
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch nouns with plural in -en
- Dutch nouns with plural in -s
- Dutch palindromes
- Dutch feminine nouns
- nl:Prostitution
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English palindromes
- Norwegian Bokmål terms borrowed from French
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from French
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål palindromes
- Norwegian Bokmål masculine nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms borrowed from French
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from French
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk palindromes
- Norwegian Nynorsk feminine nouns
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish palindromes
- Swedish common-gender nouns
- Swedish dated terms
- Swedish derogatory terms
- Turkish terms inherited from Ottoman Turkish
- Turkish terms derived from Ottoman Turkish
- Turkish terms derived from French
- Turkish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Turkish lemmas
- Turkish nouns
- Turkish palindromes