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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

lady.

The mistress of a household.

4 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈleɪ.di/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlɛj.dɪj/British, Southern, Standard/ˈleɪ.di/General-American[ˈleɪ.ɾi]General-American

  1. The mistress of a household.

    historical

  2. A woman of breeding or higher class, a woman of authority.

    "I would like the dining room to be fully set by tonight; would you do so?" "Yes, my lady."

  3. The feminine of lord, a lordess.

  4. A title for someone married to a lord or gentleman.

  5. A title that can be used instead of the formal terms of marchioness, countess, viscountess, or baroness.

  6. A woman: an adult female human.

    polite
    Please direct this lady to the soft furnishings department.

  7. A polite reference or form of address to women.

    in-plural
    Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to be here today. Follow me, ladies!

  8. Used to address a female.

    slang
    Hey, lady, move your car!
    Hey, ladies, how are you doing?

  9. A wife or girlfriend; a sweetheart.

    informal

  10. A woman to whom the particular homage of a knight was paid; a woman to whom one is devoted or bound.

  11. A queen (the playing card).

    slang

  12. A woman.

    attributive
    A lady doctor.

  13. Alternative form of Lady.

    alt-of · alternative

  14. gastric mill, the triturating apparatus in the stomach of a lobster, consisting of calcareous plates; so called from a fancied resemblance to a seated female figure.

    archaic

  15. A five-pound note. (Rhyming slang, Lady Godiva for fiver.)

    UK · slang

  16. A woman’s breast.

    in-plural · slang

  17. A queen.

    rare · slang
Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ˈleɪ.di/Received-Pronunciation/ˈlɛj.dɪj/British, Southern, Standard/ˈleɪ.di/General-American[ˈleɪ.ɾi]General-American

  1. To address as “lady”.

Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.