dama

dama¹ lady

Pronunciation

• /ˈda.ma/^[1]

Forms

dama f (plural dame)^[1] Old Italian also had damma, damna and daume.^[2] Tuscan formed the masculine damo, “sweetheart”.^[3]

Etymology

The word for a lady is borrowed from Old French dame, from Latin domina (“mistress of the house, lady”).^{[3][4][5][2][6][1]} The French vowel ⟨a⟩ is the reduced vowel of the word as an unstressed title before a name.^[7][8] The inherited Italian word from the same Latin source is donna, a doublet of this word.^[3][1][7] The Latin noun is the feminine of dominus (“master”).^[1][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Miracole de Roma, a Roman text of the mid-13th century, with the sense of a lady of high rank;^[2][3] DELI's is the Fiore (1280–1310).^[2][3] In the Fiore Venus says she knows no lady in the world so great that she should refuse such a lover.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian dama was the lady of courtly love and of chivalry, and also the Virgin Mary (Nostra Dama, after French Notre Dame), the mistress of servants or lands, a wife and a nun.^[2][10][11] The title, at first given only to women of the highest rank, was extended to all noblewomen.^[3][12]

Later senses came from court and society: the dama di corte or di palazzo, the partner of a dancer (1722), and the lady who works for a charity, as in the Dame della Carità (1617).^[3][10][12] In Tuscany dama and damo came to mean a girlfriend and a boyfriend.^[3][13] Many set phrases name sweets and plants, such as bocca di dama and bacio di dama.^[5]

Timeline

• Mid-13th century – The Miracole de Roma has the first record.^[2]
• 1280–1310 – The Fiore uses dama for a noble lady.^[3][6]
• Before 1431 – Damo “sweetheart” is recorded.^[3]
• Before 1492 – Lorenzo de' Medici uses damerino for a lover.^[3]
• 1617 – The dame della Carità are recorded.^[10]
• 1722 – The sense “dancing partner” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (historical) The lady of a fief, or the wife of a lord or a knight; a woman of noble rank: dama di corte.^[5][14][12]
2. A woman of refined manners and bearing;^[5][14][13] fare la gran dama, to put on airs.^[5][14][13]
3. A woman who works for a charitable association; in the plural, the name of such associations: Dame di San Vincenzo.^[5][14][15]
4. The female partner of a dancer: Ogni cavaliere invitò la sua dama.^[5][14][15]
5. (Tuscan, colloquial) A girlfriend;^[5][15][13] (obsolete) a beloved woman, a wife.^[5][15][13]
6. (rare, cards) The queen.^[5][13][1]

Word family

• damerino
• damo
• damina
• dameggiare

dama² draughts

Pronunciation

• /ˈda.ma/^[1]

Forms

dama f (plural dame)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the game of draughts is borrowed from French dame, recorded in French as the name of the game in 1562 and in 1548 as the queen in chess.^[3][5][10] Its further origin is disputed.^[4][3] Nocentini takes it as the French word for a lady, since draughts is a simplified chess, and the pawn that crosses the board becomes the piece that took the place of the original vizier, called “lady” in French.^[4] DELI and GRADIT think it more likely that the French word continues an older homonym meaning “stone, piece”, of unknown origin, linked to the word for a lady only by folk etymology.^[3][5][15] Treccani leaves open whether the game word has the same source as the word for a lady.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Florio's Italian–English dictionary of 1598, for the board game played with twelve pieces on each side.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In 1740 the word is recorded for the piece that has reached the opponent's last row and, crowned with a second piece, moves in both directions.^[3] Andare a dama and fare dama mean to reach that row, and the verb damare and the noun damiera, the board, belong to the game.^[5][13] Damista, a draughts player, is recorded in 1935, and sdamare, to remove a crowned piece, in 1873.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1598 – Florio records dama, the game.^[3][4]
• 1740 – Pauli records the crowned piece.^[3]
• 1873 – Sdamare is recorded.^[4]
• 1935 – Panzini records damista.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (singular only) draughts, checkers: a game for two players, each with twelve pieces on a chessboard: giocare a dama.^{[5][14][15][1]}
2. The draughtboard.^[5][13][1]
3. A king in draughts: a piece that has reached the opponent's back row and, doubled, can move in every direction.^[5][13][1]

Word family

• damiera
• damista
• damare
• sdamare