lady
/ˈleɪ.di/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.95 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A title for someone married to a lord or gentleman.
noun
A title that can be used instead of the formal terms of marchioness, countess, viscountess, or baroness.
noun
A woman: an adult female human.
noun
A polite reference or form of address to women.
Example Sentences
- ""I would like the dining room to be fully set by tonight; would you do so?" "Yes, my lady.""
- "‘[…] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”.[…]’."
- "Of all theſe bounds euen from this Line, to this, / With ſhadowie Forreſts, and with Champains rich’d / With plenteous Riuers, and wide-ſkirted Meades / We make thee Lady."
- "’T was the proudest hall in the North Countree, And never its gates might opened be, Save to lord or lady of high decree[…]"
- "Please direct this lady to the soft furnishings department."
- "In Leningrad I met a lady. She was sitting at the hard-currency bar of the Hotel Moscow, sipping gin."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷel-der.? Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz Proto-West Germanic *hlaib Old English hlāf Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *daigijǭder. Old English dǣġe Old English hlǣfdīġe Middle English lady English lady From Middle English lady, laddy, lafdi, lavedi, from Old English hlǣfdīġe (“mistress of a household, wife of a lord, lady”, literally “bread-kneader”), from hlāf (“bread, loaf”) + dǣġe (“kneader”), related to Old English dǣġe (“maker of dough”) (whence dey (“dairymaid”)). Compare also lord. More at loaf, dairy, dough. Unrelated to lad.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: lady, hlǣfdīġe
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈleɪ.di/
- British English: /ˈleɪ.di/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
Frequently Paired Words
Synonyms
Antonyms
antonym(s) of