madonna

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian madonna (“my lady”),^[2][3][4][5] from Old Italian ma donna, recorded in the 13th century,^[2][3][6] from ma, an old unstressed form of mia (“my”),^[2][5][7] from Latin mea,^[5][8][6] and donna (“lady”), from Latin domina (“lady, mistress of the house”),^[5][3][4] from domus (“house”),^[3][8] from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“house, household”).^[3] It corresponds to French madame, the source of madam.^[2][5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A respectful form of address to an Italian woman, "my lady": 1584, in Robert Wilson's play Three Ladies of London.^[2][10][8]

Semantic evolution

In the early 17th century it also meant an Italian woman, and in extended use a loose or flirtatious woman, a sense that died out after 1709.^[2][3] In Italian the word was often used specifically of the Virgin Mary, and in English it first referred to pictures and statues of her:^[3][2] Barnhart cites Evelyn's diary (1644) for a wall painting of the Virgin,^[8] and the OED's first quotation is from J. Raymond's travels in Italy (1648).^[2] The French madone had the same sense from about 1642.^[2] From 1829 to 1849 the word was also used of a hairstyle parted in the centre and smoothed down on each side, as in Italian paintings of the Virgin,^[2][5] and it served as an exclamation from 1830.^[2] D. H. Lawrence applied it to a woman seen as resembling the Virgin, especially in purity.^[2]

Timeline

• 1584 – a respectful form of address to an Italian woman.^[2][10]
• 1602 – an Italian woman; also a loose woman (obsolete by 1709).^[2]
• 1644 – a painting of the Virgin Mary, in Evelyn's diary.^[8]
• 1648 – a picture or statue of the Virgin; the Virgin Mary.^[2]
• 1829 – a hairstyle parted in the centre (until 1849).^[2]
• 1830 – an exclamation of surprise.^[2]
• before 1930 – a woman likened to the Virgin.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (usually capitalized; often the Madonna) The Virgin Mary.
2. A picture or statue of the Virgin Mary: The chapel held a carved wooden madonna.
3. A woman regarded as resembling the Virgin Mary, especially in chastity.
4. (archaic) My lady: a respectful form of address to an Italian woman.
5. (attributive) Of a woman's hairstyle, drawn back smoothly from a centre parting.

Related words

• madam
• madame
• dame
• donna
• dome

Usage notes

In the senses relating to the Virgin the word is usually written with a capital, but a picture or statue may be a madonna.^[11][5] The Madonna lily is a white Mediterranean lily traditionally linked with the Virgin as a symbol of purity.^[11][5]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins