madame French · revision 16410

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1170, Chrétien de Troyes|origins=la domina}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ma.dam/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''madame''' ''f'' (plural mesdames)^(Wiktionary)

+ Plural ''mesdames'', ''madames'' in some uses.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|ma|dame]], Old French “ma dame” “my lady”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|3, 124a) “Dame” continues [[la|domina|t=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”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi) It was also given to nuns (1644) and used by servants for the mistress of the house (1668).^(TLFi) 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).^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ 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).^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) Bloch and Wartburg date the general use to the 17th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1170 – ''Madame'' in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1274 – Of a married woman, in Adenet le Roi.^(TLFi)

+ * 1576 – Of bourgeois wives, in Henri Estienne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1644 – Of nuns, in Voiture.^(TLFi)

+ * 1660 – Of any married woman, in Molière.^(TLFi)

+ * 1670 – ''Madame'', the wife of Monsieur, in Bossuet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – ''Jouer à la Madame'', in Molière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A title for a married or older woman: ''Madame Dupont''; [[m|en|madam]], used in address: ''Bonjour, madame''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # The lady of the house, for servants: ''Madame est servie''.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(familiar)'' ''Une madame'': a lady, ''jouer à la madame'', to play the fine lady.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(history)'' Title of noblewomen, ''Madame'', the wife of the king's brother.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dame]]

+ * [[mademoiselle]]

+ * [[monsieur]]

+ * [[en|madam]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}