dame

dame

[D-]Archaic a title given to a woman in authority or the mistress of a household: now only in personifications: Dame Care
an elderly or matronly woman
[D-] 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
Slang a woman or girl

Origin of dame

Middle English from Old French from Classical Latin domina, lady, feminine of dominus, a lord: see dominate

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"Dame." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Dame.

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Dame. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Dame

dame

noun

Used formerly as a courtesy title for a woman in authority or a mistress of a household.
a. A married woman; a matron.
b. An elderly woman.
Often Offensive Slang A woman.
Chiefly British
a. A woman holding a nonhereditary title conferred by a sovereign in recognition of personal merit or service to the country.
b. The wife or widow of a knight.
c. Used as the title for such a woman.

Origin of dame

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, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"Dame." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Dame.

APA Style

Dame. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Dame

Noun

(plural dames)

(UK) The equivalent title to Sir for a female knight.
Dame Edith Sitwell
(informal, slightly derogatory, US) A woman.
There ain't nothin' like a dame!
A traditional character in British pantomime, a melodramatic female often played by a man in drag.
(archaic) Lady, woman.