Etymologically
Log in

madame

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 06:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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