lady

Pronunciation: /ˈleɪ.di/

Reading level: easy

Estimated CEFR level: A1 — Beginner

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a polite name for any woman
  2. noun a woman of refinement
  3. noun a woman of the peerage in Britain

Etymology

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.

In classic literature

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
woman
Narrower (hyponyms)
begum

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