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dame - 4 dictionary results

dame

  [deym]
Use dame in a Sentence
–noun
1. (initial capital letter) (in Britain)
a. the official title of a female member of the Order of the British Empire, equivalent to that of a knight.
b. the official title of the wife of a knight or baronet.
2. (formerly) a form of address to any woman of rank or authority.
3. a matronly woman of advanced age; matron.
4. Slang: Sometimes Offensive. a woman; female.
5. Ecclesiastical. a title of a nun in certain orders.
6. a mistress of a dame-school.
7. Archaic. the mistress of a household.
8. Archaic. a woman of rank or authority, esp. a female ruler.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME < OF < L domina, fem. of dominus lord, master
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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dame   (dām)   
n.  
  1. Used formerly as a courtesy title for a woman in authority or a mistress of a household.
    1. A married woman; a matron.
    2. An elderly woman.
    3. A woman holding a nonhereditary title conferred by a sovereign in recognition of personal merit or service to the country.
    4. The wife or widow of a knight.
    5. Used as the title for such a woman.
  3. Slang A woman.
  4. Chiefly British
    1. A woman holding a nonhereditary title conferred by a sovereign in recognition of personal merit or service to the country.
    2. The wife or widow of a knight.
    3. Used as the title for such a woman.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin domina, feminine of dominus, lord, master; see dem- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Dame

Dame\ (d[=a]m), n. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam a mother, Dan, Danger, Dungeon, Dominie, Don, n., Duenna.]

1. A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a woman in authority; especially, a lady.

Then shall these lords do vex me half so much, As that proud dame, the lord protector's wife. --Shak.

2. The mistress of a family in common life, or the mistress of a common school; as, a dame's school.

In the dame's classes at the village school. --Emerson.

3. A woman in general, esp. an elderly woman.

4. A mother; -- applied to human beings and quadrupeds. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : dame
Spanish: dama,
German: die Dame,
Japanese: 身分のある婦人
More Translations »

dame 
c.1225, from O.Fr. dame, from L.L. domna, from L. domina "lady, mistress of the house," from L. domus "house" (see domestic). Legal title for the wife of a knight or baronet. Slang sense of "woman" first attested 1902 in Amer.Eng.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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