Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Dame

Dame

(dām)
,
Noun.
[F.
dame
, LL.
domna
, fr. L.
domina
mistress, lady, fem. of
dominus
master, ruler, lord; akin to
domare
to tame, subdue. See
Tame
, and cf.
Dam
a mother,
Dan
,
Danger
,
Dungeon
,
Dominie
,
Don
,
Noun.
,
Duenna
.]
1.
A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a woman in authority; especially, a lady.
Then shall these lords do vex me half so much,
As that proud
dame
, the lord protector’s wife.
Shakespeare
2.
The mistress of a family in common life, or the mistress of a common school;
as, a
dame's
school
.
In the
dame's
classes at the village school.
Emerson.
3.
A woman in general, esp. an elderly woman.
4.
A mother; – applied to human beings and quadrupeds.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.

Webster 1828 Edition


Dame

DAME

,
Noun.
[Gr., to subdue] Literally, a mistress; hence, a lady; a title of honor to a woman. It is now generally applied to the mistress of a family in the common ranks of life; as is its compound, madam. In poetry, it is applied to a woman of rank, In short, it is applied with propriety to any woman who is or has been the mistress of a family, and it sometimes comprehends women in general.

Definition 2024


Dame

Dame

See also: dame, damé, dáme, and Damɛ

English

Noun

Dame (plural Dames)

  1. (Britain) The titular prefix given to a female knight

Coordinate terms

Translations


German

Etymology

From French dame, from Latin domina (mistress, lady).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdaːmə/
  • Hyphenation: Da‧me

Noun

Dame f (genitive Dame, plural Damen)

  1. lady (woman of good breeding and manners)
  2. lady; madam (polite term to refer to any woman)
  3. (chess, card games) queen

Usage notes

Concerning the use of the word as a polite term for any woman, note the following tendencies:

  • It is common to refer to a woman as Dame when one speaks of her in her presence. Frau might even be slightly impolite in such a context.
Ich glaube, die Dame war vor mir dran. — “I think this lady was in line before me.”
  • Dame used as a general term of address (“die Dame!” – madam!), or when speaking about someone who is not present, marks a consciously polite way of speaking, most often heard from waiters, shop assistants, etc. In popular speech, it may be used to refer to an elderly woman but rarely to a young or middle-aged one.
  • Dame is common in some specific contexts, such as ballroom dancing.

Declension

Derived terms

See also

Chess pieces in German · Schachfiguren, Schachsteine (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
König Dame, Königin Turm Läufer Springer, Pferd, Ross, Rössel Bauer

Noun

Dame n (invariable, no plural)

  1. (board games) draughts; checkers

Usage notes

  • This word is not inflected and generally cannot take any articles, determiners, or adjectives. If such words were used with it, they would take neuter forms: Er spielt ein gutes Dame. (“He plays good checkers.”) This is grammatically doubtful, however. The full form Damespiel is preferable in such contexts.

Synonyms

  • Damespiel

dame

dame

See also: Dame, damé, dáme, and Damɛ

English

Noun

dame (plural dames)

  1. (Britain) The equivalent title to Sir for a female knight.
    Dame Edith Sitwell
  2. (dated, informal, slightly derogatory, US) A woman.
  3. A traditional character in British pantomime, a melodramatic female often played by a man in drag.
  4. (archaic) Lady, woman.
  5. (Britain) A matron at Eton College.

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:woman

Related terms

Translations

See also

Anagrams


Danish

Etymology

Borrowing from French dame (lady).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /daːmə/, [ˈd̥æːmə], [ˈd̥æːm̩]

Noun

dame c (singular definite damen, plural indefinite damer)

  1. lady
  2. woman
  3. (card games) queen

Inflection

Derived terms

See also

Playing cards in Danish · kort, spillekort (layout · text)
es toer treer firer femmer sekser syver
otter nier tier knægt, bonde dame, dronning konge joker

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: da‧me

Etymology

Borrowing from Old French dame, from Latin domina.

Noun

dame f (plural dames, diminutive dametje n)

  1. lady
  2. (chess) queen

See also

Chess pieces in Dutch · schaakstukken (schaak + stukken) (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
koning koningin, dame toren loper paard pion

Anagrams


French

Etymology

From Old French dame, from Late Latin domna, shortened variant of Latin domina.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [daːm]

Noun

dame f (plural dames)

  1. A lady
  2. A polite form of address for a woman.
  3. (chess) queen
  4. (card games) queen

Derived terms

See also

Chess pieces in French · pièces d'échecs (layout · text)
♚ ♛ ♜ ♝ ♞ ♟
roi dame tour fou cavalier pion
Playing cards in French · cartes à jouer (layout · text)
as deux trois quatre cinq six sept
huit neuf dix valet dame roi joker

Italian

Noun

dame f

  1. plural of dama

Japanese

Romanization

dame

  1. rōmaji reading of だめ

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin domina, via Old French dame and late Old Norse damma.

Noun

dame f, m (definite singular dama or damen, indefinite plural damer, definite plural damene)

  1. a lady, woman
  2. (card games) a queen

Derived terms

References


Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin domina, via Old French dame and late Old Norse damma.

Noun

dame f (definite singular dama, indefinite plural damer, definite plural damene)

  1. a lady, woman
  2. (card games) a queen

Derived terms

References


Old French

Etymology

From Late Latin domna, shortened variant of Latin domina.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈdã.mə/
  • Rhymes: -amə

Noun

dame f (oblique plural dames, nominative singular dame, nominative plural dames)

  1. lady; woman

Usage notes

  • Unlike in modern French, fame usually refers to a wife, while dame refers to a woman.

Descendants


Spanish

Verb

dame

  1. Compound of the informal second-person singular () affirmative imperative form of dar, da and the pronoun me : give me!