dame English · revision 10723

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1225|origins=fro dame|origins=la domina}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /deɪm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|dame|t=lady, mistress, wife]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Late Latin domna, Latin [[m|la|domina|t=mistress of the house, lady]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) the feminine of dominus, lord, from domus, house (see [[dome]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) In Old French the a developed from the o of domina when the word was unstressed before a name.^(Barnhart 1988) Compare [[madam]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A female ruler or superior, a mother superior: probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle, before 1225 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A lady or female ruler is from about 1200,^(Barnhart 1988) and a mother from about 1200 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) The lady of a house, a housewife, is from about 1330,^(OED 1989) and a woman in general, especially a mature or married one, from the 14th century;^(Etymonline) Middle English also used it with personifications such as Dame Fortune and Dame Nature.^(Etymonline) It became the legal title of the wife of a knight or baronet,^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023) and in Britain the title of a woman holding certain orders of chivalry.^(Collins 2023) The comic middle-aged woman of pantomime, played by a man, is from 1902,^(OED 1989) and the slang sense, any woman, is attested by 1902 in American English, though it is also found in English dialect.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1225 – a female ruler.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1330 – a housewife.^(OED 1989)

+ * 14th century – a woman.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1902 – a woman (US slang); the pantomime dame.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(UK)'' The title of a woman holding certain orders of chivalry, or of the wife of a knight.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A woman of rank; a lady, or the mistress of a household.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang, chiefly US)'' A woman.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(UK)'' A comic older woman in pantomime, played by a man.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dame school]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dam]]

+ * [[damsel]]

+ * [[demoiselle]]

+ * [[dominate]]

+ * [[dominatrix]]

+ * [[domine]]

+ * [[dominie]]

+ * [[donna]]

+ * [[grandam]]

+ * [[grande dame]]

+ * [[madam]]

+ * [[dome]]

+ * [[domain]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}