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madame

Etymology and origin of the French word madame

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1170, Chrétien de Troyes
Ultimate origin
Latin (domina)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin domina
French dame
French madame

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ma.dam/[1]

Forms

madame f (plural mesdames)[1] Plural mesdames, madames in some uses.[2][1]

Etymology

It is formed from French ma + dame, Old French “ma dame” “my lady”.[3][4][2][1][5] “Dame” continues Latin domina (“mistress of a house, lady”), early reduced to “domna” (1st century), with a special development of the vowel when the word stood unstressed before a name; in feudal Gaul it took the sense of a nobleman's wife, as “dominus” took that of “lord of a fief”.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Chrétien de Troyes's Érec et Énide (1170) as a title given to noble ladies, wives or daughters of great lords.[3][6]

Semantic evolution

About 1274 (Adenet le Roi) it was given to a married woman, here a serf; in tragedy it was the title of noblewomen (1568), and, from 1576 bourgeois wives were called madame before their husband's office.[3] It was also given to nuns (1644) and used by servants for the mistress of the house (1668).[3] Under Louis XIV Madame alone was the wife of Monsieur, the king's brother, as in Bossuet's Madame se meurt, Madame est morte (1670).[3][2]

From 1660 (Molière's Précieuses ridicules) it is the title of any woman who is or has been married, jouer à la madame “to play the fine lady” is in the Bourgeois gentilhomme (1671).[3][2] Bloch and Wartburg date the general use to the 17th century.[6]

Timeline

  • 1170 – Madame in Chrétien de Troyes.[3]
  • c. 1274 – Of a married woman, in Adenet le Roi.[3]
  • 1576 – Of bourgeois wives, in Henri Estienne.[3]
  • 1644 – Of nuns, in Voiture.[3]
  • 1660 – Of any married woman, in Molière.[3]
  • 1670 – Madame, the wife of Monsieur, in Bossuet.[3]
  • 1671 – Jouer à la Madame, in Molière.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A title for a married or older woman: Madame Dupont; madam, used in address: Bonjour, madame.[2][3]
  2. The lady of the house, for servants: Madame est servie.[3]
  3. (familiar) Une madame: a lady, jouer à la madame, to play the fine lady.[2]
  4. (history) Title of noblewomen, Madame, the wife of the king's brother.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 124a
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
Cite this entry

“Madame.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/madame. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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