dame French · revision 16507

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (dama)|origins=la domus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dam/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dame''' ''f'' (plural dames)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|dama]] (about 1050), then ''dame'', ''dome'' is also found.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|domina|t=mistress of the house; wife; mistress; sovereign]], contracted to [[m|la|domna]] by the 1st century, the feminine of [[m|la|dominus|t=master]], from [[m|la|domus|t=house]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|3, 123b) The vowel ⟨a⟩ for Latin ⟨o⟩ is explained by the word's frequent unstressed use before names, as a title.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935) The Petit Robert traces “domus” to an Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*dem-|t=house; to build]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Cognate with [[ro|doamnă]], [[it|donna]], [[oc|dona]], [[ca|dona]], [[es|dueña]] and [[pt|dona]].^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Life of Saint Alexis'' (about 1050) ''dama'' is the title of a married woman of high rank; the ''Chanson de Roland'' says of Roland that ''pur sa bealté dames lui sont amies''.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the Middle Ages, and still in the 17th century, ''dame'' was the wife of a noble, while a bourgeois wife was called ''demoiselle''; the feudal sense parallels that of Latin ''dominus'', which in Merovingian and Carolingian Gaul meant the lord of a fief.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) It also meant a wife (Chrétien de Troyes, about 1175) and, in courtly language, the lady one loves (late 12th century), as in ''la dame de ses pensées''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From about 1200 it was applied to women outside the nobility, a use that spread in the 16th century as a polite word for ''femme''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ''Notre Dame'', the Virgin, dates from about 1220, and abstractions were personified as ''damme Théologie'' (13th century).^(TLFi) In games, the queen at chess and cards and the crowned piece in draughts gave ''jeu de dames'' (1508), ''damer'' (1562) and ''damer le pion'' (1688).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The interjection ''dame!'' (Molière, 1665) comes from ''par Notre Dame'' or from ''Damedieu'' “Lord God”; it was still common in the country in the 19th century and survives in Brittany.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Dama'', ''Life of Saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1175 – “Wife”, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 12th century – The beloved lady, in courtly lyric.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1220 – ''Nostre Dame'', Gautier de Coinci.^(TLFi)

+ * 1508 – ''Jeu des dames''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1562 – ''Damer''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1665 – The interjection ''dame!'', Molière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|lady]]: a woman, especially a married one; politely, any woman: ''une vieille dame'', ''le coiffeur pour dames''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(historical)'' A noblewoman; the lady of a manor; a lady loved by a knight.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Notre-Dame'': the Virgin Mary.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(chess, cards)'' The [[m|en|queen]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # (plural) [[m|en|draughts]], checkers: ''jouer aux dames'', ''(singular)'' a king in draughts.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Interjection===

+ # ''(dated, regional)'' ''Dame!'', ''dame oui!'': why yes!, well!^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[madame]]

+ * [[damer]]

+ * [[damier]]

+ * [[dameret]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[demoiselle]]

+ * [[dom]]

+ * [[la|domina]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate ''dame'' “dike, dam” (1270, ''dam'', ''damp'' in the 15th century) is borrowed from [[nl|dam]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|15/2, 53a)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}