dame Hear it!

dame Definition

dame (dām)

noun

  1. Archaic a title given to a woman in authority or the mistress of a household: now only in personifications Dame Care
  2. an elderly or matronly woman
  3. in Great Britain
    1. the legal title of the wife of a knight or baronet
    2. the title of a woman who has received an order of knighthood: used always with the given name
  4. Slang a woman or girl

Etymology: ME < OFr < L domina, lady, fem. of dominus, a lord: see dominate

dame Synonyms

dame

n.

baroness, aristocrat, peeress, dowager; see lady 2, 3, matron 2.

dame Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • become: Two Queens of Hollywood become dames from the British Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Noun used with modifier

  • grande: She holds her skirt with her hand as she dances, with stately precision, after the manner of the grandes dames.
dame Quotes

but wotthehell wotthehell oh i should worry and fret death and I will coquette there s a dance in the old dame yet toujoursgai toujoursgai.

—Marquis, Don(ald Robert Perry)

He played an ancient ditty, long since mute, In Provence called,'La belle dame sans mercy'.

—Keats,John

I saw pale kings, and princes too, Pale warriors, death-pale were they all; Who cry'dö'La belle Dame sans Merci Hath thee in thrall!'

—Keats,John

Whare sits our sulky sullen dame, Gathering her brows like gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it warm.

—Burns, Robert

Nought so of love this looser dame did skill, But as a coal to kindle fleshly flame, Giving the bridle to her wanton will, And treading underfoot her honest name.

—Spenser, Edmund