| 释义 |
▪ I. lady, n.|ˈleɪdɪ|
Forms: 1 hlǽfdíᵹe, hlǽfdí, hlǽf-, hléfdíᵹe, Northumb. hláfdía, Mercian hláfdíe, 2–4 lefdi, 3 læfdi, lævedi, laf(e)di(e, lafvedi, leafdi, leivedi, leofdi, levede, Orm. laffdiᵹ, 3–4 lavedi, levedi, -y, 4 laidi, -y, lavede, laydy, ledy, lefdye, levdi, -y, levedie, levidi, lhevedi, -y, livedi, 4–5 lavedy, lefdy, lade, 4–7 ladi(e, -ye, (pl. ladise), 6, 9 Sc. leddy, 9 arch. ladye, 4– lady.
[OE. hlǽfdíᵹe wk. fem.; f. hláf bread, loaf + root dī̆g- to knead: see dough.
Like the corresponding masc. designation hláford, lord, the word is not found outside Eng. (the Icel. lafði is adopted from ME.). The etym. above stated is not very plausible with regard to sense; but the attempts to explain hlǽfdíᵹe as a deriv. of hláford are unsatisfactory: the fem. suffix in OE. is -icᵹe, not -iᵹe, and the umlaut in the first syllable is difficult to explain on this supposition.
The OE. ǽ, being regularly shortened in ME. before two consonants, yielded regularly ă and ĕ according to dialect. The ME. lĕfdi, lĕvdi, is represented by Sc. leddy. The other form lăfdi (= *lavdi) became lăvedi (3 syllables), and by regular development lāvedi; afterwards the e became silent and the v was dropped; hence the mod.Eng. form.
The genitive sing. (OE. hlǽfdíᵹan) became by regular phonetic change in ME. coincident in form with the nom.; hence certain syntactical combs. have the appearance of proper compounds, as lady-bird, Lady-day, Lady-chapel.]
I. As a designation for a woman.
†1. A mistress in relation to servants or slaves; the female head of a household. Obs.
The 18th c. instances in brackets seem to represent a redevelopment of this sense from sense 6 a.
c825Vesp. Psalter cxxii[i]. 2 Swe swe eᵹan menenes hondum hlafdian hire. a1000Laws of Penitents ii. §4 in Thorpe Anc. Laws II. 184 Ᵹif hwylc wif..hire wifman swingð & heo þurh þa swingle wyrð dead..fæste seo hlæf⁓diᵹe .vii. ᵹear. a1100Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 310/26 Materfamilias, hiredes moder oððe hlæfdiᵹe. a1225Ancr. R. 4 Ant þeos riwle nis bute vorto serui þe oðer. Þe oðer is ase lefdi: þeos is ase þuften. c1250Gen. & Ex. 967 Forð siðen ȝhe bi abram slep. Of hire leuedi nam ȝhe no kep. 1382Wyclif Ps. cxxii[i]. 2 As the eȝen of the hondmaide, in the hondis of hir ladi. ― Prov. xxx. 23 Bi an hand womman, whan she were eir of hir ladi. [1718Freethinker No. 17. 116 Her Maid..lisps out to me that her Lady is gone to Bed. a1745Swift Direct. Servants iii. (1745) 50 When you are sent on a Message, deliver it in your own Words..not in the Words of your Master or Lady.]
2. a. A woman who rules over subjects, or to whom obedience or feudal homage is due; the feminine designation corresponding to lord. Now poet. or rhetorical, exc. in lady of the manor. † In OE. used spec. (instead of cwén, queen) as the title of the consort of the king of Wessex (afterwards of England).
a1000O.E. Chron. an. 918 Her æðelflæd forðferde Myrcena hlæfdiᵹe. 1038–44Charter of ælfwine in Kemble Cod. Dipl. IV. 76 Eadweard cinge and ælfᵹyfu seo hlefdiᵹe, and Eadsiᵹe arcebisceop. c1205Lay. 6310 Bruttes nemnede þa laȝen æfter þar lafuedi. 1382Wyclif Isa. xlvii. 7 Thou agreggedist the ȝoc gretli, and seidest, In to euermor I shal ben a ladi. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 129 Þe laste lady of Cartage hadde riȝt suche a manere ende as Dydo þe firste lady hadde. c1450Merlin 362 ‘And also’, quod she, ‘I am lady of the reame cleped the londe susteyne’. 1481Caxton Myrr. ii. ii. 65 Asia the grete..taketh the name of a quene that somtyme was lady of this regyon and was callid Asia. 1562Winȝet Cert. Tractates i. Wks. 1888 I. 10 We suspect nocht zoure gentle humanitie,..to be offendit with vs zour pure anis, bot our Souerane Ladyis fre liegis. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. Introd. 4 Great Ladie of the greatest Isle. c1630Risdon Surv. Devon §43 (1810) 50 Beatrix de Vallibus was lady of this land. 1633Milton Arcades 105 Bring your Flocks, and live with us, Here ye shall have greater grace, To serve the Lady of this place. 1711Act 9 Anne in Lond. Gaz. No. 4870/1 Any Lord or Lady of a Manor might appoint several Game-keepers. 1832Tennyson Dream Fair Women 97 No marvel, sovereign lady: in fair field Myself for such a face had boldly died.
†b. transf. and fig. Obs.
a1225Ancr. R. 176 Þet fleschs wolde awiligen & bicomen to ful itowen touward hire lefdi, ȝif hit nere ibeaten. 1382Wyclif Isa. xlvii. 5 Thou shalt no more be clepid the ladi of reumes [1611 the Ladie of kingdomes]. 1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Auspex, Musa auspice..the ladie of learnyng beyng our guide. 1587Golding De Mornay xvi. 265 The Spirit of ours..was free of it selfe, and Ladie of the bodie, and therefore could not receyue her first corruption from the bodie. 1591Sparry tr. Cattan's Geomancie B 2 b, By the influence of the Sunne she [the Eagle] hath a marueilous property, which is, to be Lady of all other birdes. 1601R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 107 Rome, once the Lady of the world. a1610Healey Epictetus (1636) 79 Beware that thou hurt not thy minde, the Lady of thy workes, and thine actions governesse.
c. A woman who is the object of chivalrous devotion; a mistress, ‘lady-love’.
c1374Chaucer Troylus i. 811 Many a man hath love ful dere y-bought, Twenty winter that his lady wiste, That never yet his lady mouth he kiste. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xviii. (Percy Soc.) 83 You are my lady, you are my masteres, Whome I shall serve with all my gentylnes. a1547Surrey in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 20 A praise of his loue: wherein he reproueth them that compare their Ladies with his. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 436. 1633 T. James Voy. 71 This euening being May euen; we..chose Ladies, and did ceremoniously weare their names in our Caps. 1867Tennyson Window 120 Never a line from my lady yet! Is it ay or no? a1881Rossetti House of Life viii, My lady only loves the heart of Love.
3. spec.
a. The Virgin Mary. (Usually Our Lady = L. Domina Nostra, and equivalents in all mod. European langs.) † Our Lady's bands: pregnancy.
a900Cynewulf Crist 284 Cristes þeᵹnas cweþað ond singað þæt þu sie hlæfdiᵹe halᵹum meahtum wuldorweorudes. c1175Lamb. Hom. 17 He wes iboren of ure lefdi Zeinte Marie. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 161 Maidene maide and heuene quen and englene lafdi. c1200Ormin 2127 Ure deore laffdiȝ wass Þurrh Drihhten nemmnedd Marȝe. c1325Metr. Hom. 160 Ilke day deuotely Herd scho messe of our Lefdye. c1410Love Bonavent. Mirr. ii. 28 (Gibbs MS.) Þan come þei forþermore to þe house of oure lady cosyn Elizabeth. 1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 761 By Gods blessed Ladie (that was euer his othe). 1553Becon Reliques of Rome (1563) 233* Ye shall also praye..for the women that bene in our Ladyes bandes and with childe. a1555Articles imputed to Latimer in Foxe A. & M. (1563) 1309/2 No doubt our lady was, through the goodnes of God, a good & a gratious creature. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. v. 63 O Gods Lady deare, Are yow so hot? marrie come vp I trow. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xi, On the morning of our high festival, our Lady's day, it is usual for such as devote themselves to heaven to receive the veil. 1832Tennyson Mariana iii, Low on her knees herself she cast, Before Our Lady murmur'd she.
†b. Our, the Lady in March, or Lent: the Annunciation, Mar. 25. Our Lady in Harvest: the Assumption, Aug. 15. Our Lady in December: the Conception, Dec. 8. (See lady-day.)
c1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9080 Vr leuedy [v. rr. leuedi dai, lefdi day] in decembre. c1483Caxton Dialogues (E.E.T.S.) 28/21 Our ladye in marche. Ibid. 28/23 Our lady in heruest. 1608Acc. Bk. W. Wray in Antiquary XXXII. 213 A great frost from Martinmas till almost y⊇ Lady in lent.
†c. An image of the Virgin Mary. Obs.
1563Homilies ii. Agst. Idolatry iii. (1859) 225 Christophers, Ladies, and Mary Magdalenes, and other Saints. 1606Arraignm. late Traitors D 1 b, Their [Papists'] kissing of babies, their kneeling to wodden Ladies.
4. a. A woman of superior position in society, or to whom such a position is conventionally or by courtesy attributed. Originally, the word connoted a degree equal to that expressed by lord; but it was (like its synonyms in all European langs.) early widened in application, while the corresponding masc. term retained its restricted comprehension. In mod. use lady is the recognized fem. analogue of gentleman, and is applied to all women above a loosely-defined and variable, but usually not very elevated standard of social position. Often used (esp. in ‘this lady’) as a more courteous synonym for ‘woman’, without reference to the status of the person spoken of. See also fine lady, young lady.
As the traditional association of lady with lord still survives, the former is a title of ostensibly higher dignity than gentleman. Hence, and not directly as the result of the sentiment of gallantry, the customary order of words in ‘ladies and gentlemen’.
c1205Lay. 24715 Alle þa lafdies leoneden ȝeond walles to bihalden þa duȝoðen. c1230Hali Meid. 9 Aske þes cwenes, þes riche cuntasses, þes modie lafdis. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 3280 Mony was þe vayre leuedi þat icome was þer to. 1340Ayenb. 215 Þe greate lhordes and þe greate lheuedyes. c1350Will. Palerne 2968 Whan þat loveli ladi hade listened his wordes..for ioye sche wept. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 335 Ylyke a lusarde with a lady visage. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 898 A companye of ladies..clad in clothes blake. 1486Bk. St. Albans F vj, A Beuy of Ladies. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 268 Labouryng & seruyng for these two ladyes, Lya & Rachel. c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) vi. 27 A lord to lufe a silly lass, A leddy als, for luf, to tak Ane propir page. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. ii. i. 192 What Lady is that same? 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxiv. (Arb.) 296 For Ladies and women to weepe..it is nothing vncomely. 1611Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burn. Pestle iii. iv, To punish all the sad enormities Thou hast committed against ladies gent. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. in Sylva, etc. (1729) 190 Keep your Wall and Palisade-Trees..sharp'd like a Lady's Fan. 1674Dryden Epil. Misc. (1685) 289 A Country Lip may have the Velvet touch, Tho' She's no Lady, you may think her such. 1702Addison Dial. Medals i. Wks. 1721 I. 438 We find too on Medals the representations of Ladies that have given occasion to whole volumes on the account only of a face. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 246 This is giving the ladies' reason, ‘It is so because it is’. 1791Cowper Retired Cat 38 Linen..such as merchants introduce From India, for the ladies' use. 1807–8W. Irving Salmag. xviii. (1860) 414 It appears to be an established maxim..that a lady loses her dignity when she condescends to be useful. 1886Miss Mulock K. Arthur i. 11 Poor lady!.. But if she were a real lady she would never be an opera-singer. 1888Harper's Mag. Nov. 960/1 She was born, in our familiar phrase, a lady, and..throughout a long life, she was surrounded with perfect ease of circumstance.
b. vocatively. (a) In the singular (not now in standard use). (b) In the pl., the ordinary term of oral address to a number of women, without reference to their rank; corresponding to ‘Madam’ in the singular.
The uneducated, esp. in London, still often use ‘Lady’ in the sing. as a term of address for ‘Madam’ or ‘Ma'am’.
c1384Chaucer H. Fame iii. 519 Lady, graunte us now good fame. c1400Sowdone Bab. 1889 Noe, certes, lady, it is not I. 1599Shakes. Much Ado ii. i. 285 Pedr. Come Lady, come, you haue lost the heart of Signior Benedicke. 1634Milton Comus 277 What chance, good Lady, hath bereft you thus? Ibid. 319, I can conduct you, Lady, to a low But loyal cottage. 1808[see gentleman 4 b]. 1819Shelley Cenci v. ii. 172 Know you this paper, Lady? 1914G. B. Shaw Pygmalion (1916) i. 107 The Flower Girl. Thank you kindly, lady. 1924I. Gershwin (song title) Lady, be good. 1953Manch. Guardian Weekly 10 Sept. 7 Why, lady, take route 128. 1972P. Ruell Red Christmas xiv. 148 ‘Lady,’ he said, ‘you talk sense. Just remember, it's guns that count.’ 1974M. Babson Stalking Lamb xxiii. 176, I know it can, lady. It won't be the first time.
†c. lady errant: a humorous feminine analogue of ‘knight errant’.
a1643Cartwright (title) The Lady Errant. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. vi. vii. 364 Conscientious Catholicks conceived these Lady Errants so much to deviate from feminine..modesty..that they zealously decried their practice.
d. Applied to fairies.
1628Milton Vac. Exerc. 60 At thy birth The Faiery Ladies daunc't upon the hearth. a1650K. Arthur's Death 235 in Furnivall Percy Folio I. 506 He see a barge from the land goe, & hearde Ladyes houle & cry.
e. Phraseological expressions. lady of the lake, (a) the designation of a personage in the Arthurian legends, Nimue or Vivien; † (b) a nymph; † (c) a kept mistress. lady of pleasure, a courtesan, whore. lady of easy virtue, a woman whose chastity is easily assailable. lady of the frying-pan, a jocular term for a cook. lady of Babylon, of Rome, abusive terms for the Roman Catholic Church, with reference to the ‘scarlet woman’ of the Apocalypse. † lady of honour, † lady of presence, a lady who holds the position of attendant to a queen or princess (cf. maid of honour); similarly lady of the bedchamber, lady-in-waiting. Lady Bountiful (see bountiful a. 1). a lady in the case, indicating that the key to the problem is a lady (cf. cherchez la femme). the Old Lady (in or) of Threadneedle Street, the Bank of England. the lady of the house, the mistress of a household; a housewife.
1470–85Malory Arthur i. xxv. 73 What damoysel is that? said Arthur. That is the lady of the lake, said Merlyn. 1530Palsgr. 237/1 Lady of presence, damoiselle dhonneur. 1536Hen. VIII Let. 10 Jan. in Halliwell Lett. Eng. Kings (1846) I. 352 At the interment [of Katharine of Arragon] it is requisite to have the presence of a good many ladies of honour. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Apr. 120 They bene all Ladyes of the lake behight [E. K. Gloss, Ladyes of the lake be Nymphes]. 1625Massinger New Way ii. i, Thou shalt dine..With me, and with a lady. Marrall. Lady? What lady? With the Lady of the Lake, or Queen of Fairies? 1631High Commission Cases (Camden) 187 The Lady Willoughby..now one of the Ladyes of Honour attendant upon the Queene. 1637Shirley (title) The Lady of Pleasure. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) I. 447 He hath no such cloisters or houses for ladies of pleasure. 1678Butler Hud. iii. i. 869 The difference Marriage makes 'Twixt Wives, and Ladies of the Lakes. 1708Motteux Rabelais (1737) V. 217 Kept-Wenches, Kind-hearted-Things, Ladies of Pleasure, by what..Names soever dignified. 1727J. Gay Fables I. l. 172 And when a lady's in the case, You know, all other things give place. 1785Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Lady of easy virtue, a woman of the town, a prostitute. c1793Jane Austen Volume Second in Minor Works (1954) 136 We had scarcely paid our Compliments to the Lady of the House. 1797J. Gillray Caricature 22 May, Political Ravishment, or The Old Lady of Threadneedle-Street in danger! 1809Malkin Gil Blas iii. x. ⁋4 The lady of the frying-pan..was assisted in her cookery by the coachman. 1809[see easy a. 12]. 1816Jane Austen Emma III. xiv. 254 It was with difficulty that she could summon enough of her usual self to be the attentive lady of the house, or even the attentive daughter. 1820Black Dwarf IV. 36 Van went to wheedle—the street of Threadneedle, To get him, poor dog, a loan;..He ask'd the old lady to cash him a bill. 1821Byron Juan v. xix. 243 ‘Ay,’ quoth his friend, ‘I thought it would appear That there had been a lady in the case.’ 1850Househ. Words 6 July 337 (heading) The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street. 1858Trollope Barchester T. xx. 150 The ordeal through which he had gone, in resisting the blandishments of the lady of Rome. 1860― Castle Richmond I. v. 83 The pope, with his lady of Babylon, his college of cardinals [etc.]. 1861Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 9 The more usual plan is for the lady of the house to have the joint brought to her table, and afterwards carried to the nursery. 1862Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. ii. xii. 205 Making the avowal as freely as though he had proclaimed that his mother was lady-in-waiting to the Queen. 1863A. Trollope Rachel Ray I. xiii. 260 Luke, is there no young lady in the case? 1884Peel City Guardian No. 26. 2/1 The rest of the ‘Old Lady in Threadneedle-street’ remained unbroken. 1909W. S. Gilbert Fallen Fairies ii. 37 In all the woes that curse our race There is a lady in the case. 1958R. Genders Pansies, Violas & Violets x. 100 Those who have retired will be able to give the plants their full attention, whilst those who have to go out to work each day may have to entrust the care of the plants to the lady of the house. 1971Guardian 19 Aug. 9/3 Door-to-door sales people were asked why the opening question is always, ‘Is the lady of the house home?’ 1974G. Vaizey Tangled Web ii. 26 He..is highly respected by the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.
f. pl. Designation of a public convenience for females. Freq. ladies', and with capital initial.
1918‘K. Mansfield’ Jrnl. (1954) 140 Also, when she goes to the ‘Ladies’, for some obscure reason she wears a little shawl. 1936R. Campbell Mithraic Emblems 120 No ‘Ladies’ here or ‘Gentlemens’ are seen For most of you to hesitate between. 1938G. Greene Brighton Rock iii. i. 98 The white steps down to the ladies'. 1939C. Morley Kitty Foyle 36 How to get undressed in a Pullman berth, how to find the Ladies. 1944T. Rattigan While Sun Shines i. 190, I lost the plans of the Station Defence... We found them again all right. I'd only left them in the Ladies. 1965G. Melly Owning-Up vi. 64 ‘They're no good,’ he'd tell us as two of them swayed past on their way to the ladies. 1974D. Meiring President Plan vi. 42 Comunicado Number Two..was found, as anonymously advised, in the Ladies' of a San Agustín restaurant.
5. A woman whose manners, habits, and sentiments have the refinement characteristic of the higher ranks of society.
1861Geo. Eliot Silas M. i. xi. 185 She had the essential attributes of a lady—high veracity, delicate honour in her dealings, deference to others, and refined personal habits. 1880C. E. Norton Ch.-building Mid. Ages ii. 40 Her [Venice's] gentlemen were the first in Europe, and the first modern ladies were Venetian.
6. As an honorific title.
a. A prefix forming part of the customary designation of a woman of rank. Also in my lady, an appellation used (chiefly by inferiors) in speaking to or of those who are designated by this prefix.
In the 15–16th c., The (or My) Lady was prefixed to the Christian name of a female member of the royal family, as ‘Princess’ is now. With regard to the use of the prefix in the titles of the nobility of the British Isles, usage has varied greatly at different times, but the following rules are now established: (1) In speaking of a marchioness, countess, viscountess, or baroness (whether she be such in her own right, by marriage, or by courtesy), the prefix Lady is a less formal substitute for the specific designation of rank, which is not used in conversational address: thus ‘the Marchioness (of) A.’ is spoken to, and informally spoken of, as ‘Lady A.’ (2) The daughters of dukes, marquises, and earls have Lady (more formally, e.g. on a superscription, The Lady) prefixed to their Christian names. (3) The wife of the holder of a courtesy title in which Lord is prefixed to a Christian name is known as ‘(The) Lady John B.’ (4) The wife of a baronet or other knight (‘Sir John C.’) is commonly spoken of as ‘Lady C.’, the strictly correct appellation ‘Dame Mary C.’ being confined to legal documents, sepulchral monuments, and the like.
c1489Caxton Blanchardyn Ded. 1 Unto the right noble puyssant & excellent pryncesse, my redoubted lady, my lady Margarete, duchesse of Somercete. 1509in Fisher's Wks. (1876) 288 The moost excellent pryncesse my lady the kynges graundame. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 238 b, The Ladye Marques Dorset. 1555N. Grimalde in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 113 An Epitaph of the ladye Margaret Lee. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. ii. Stage direct., Enter the Coarse of Henrie the sixt..Lady Anne being the Mourner. 1599Broughton's Lett. vii. 21 Who selected him..to bee the Lady Margarets Reader. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. xi. §235 The general's wife, the lady Fayrefax. 1694Congreve Double Dealer Dram. Pers., Lord Touchwood,..Sir Paul Plyant..Knight..Lady Touchwood..Lady Plyant. a1715Burnet Own Time i. (1724) I. 19 Lady Margaret Dowglas was the child so provided for. Ibid. iii. 353 The Lady Bellasis, the widow of the Lord Bellasis's son. 1719Prior (title) Verses spoken to Lady Henrietta Cavendish-Holles Harley, Countess of Oxford. 1766Gentl. Mag. XXXVI. 103/1 Lady North,—of a son. Ibid., Lady Anne Conway, eldest daughter to the Earl of Hertford. 1833Tennyson (title) Lady Clara Vere de Vere. 1864― Aylmer's F. 190 My lady's Indian kinsman. 1870Disraeli Lothair II. xiv. 148 Lothair danced with Lady Flora Falkirk, and her sister, Lady Grizell, was in the same quadrille.
b. Prefixed to the names of goddesses, allegorical personages, personifications, etc. Now arch. exc. in Lady Luck = fortune n. 1.
c1205Lay. 1198 Leafdi Diana: leoue Diana heȝe Diana, help me to neode. c1425Lydg. Assembly of Gods 239 My lady Diane, the goddesse. 1508Dunbar Gold. Targe 74 Thare saw I..The fresch Aurora, and lady Flora schene. Ibid. 210 A wofull prisonnere To lady Beautee. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utop. ii. (Arb.) 160 If that same worthye princesse lady money did not alone stop up the waye betwene vs and our lyuing. 1566Drant Horace's Sat. i. iii. B vj, Thus graunte you must, that feare of wronge set ladye lawe in forte. 1597J. Payne Royal Exch. 20 [Those] that make so small accowmpt of religion and good lyfe, otherwyse then of there belly God and ladie pleasure. a1625Boys Wks. (1629) 487 Ladie Venus dwels at the signe of the Iuie bush. 1932M. Short (title) Lady Luck in 1941. 1936C. Sandburg People, Yes 165 Yes, get Lady Luck with you and you're made. 1961T. Henrot Belgium 119 A thousand ways of flirting with Lady Luck.
c. Prefixed to titles of honour or designations of dignified office, as an added mark of respect. Obs. or arch. Lady Mayoress: see mayoress.
c1386Chaucer Prioress' Prol. 13 My lady Prioresse. 1530Palsgr. 237/1 Lady maystres, dame dhonnevr; govuernante. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, v. iii. 169 You shall haue two noble Partners with you: the old Duchesse of Norfolke, and Lady Marquess Dorset. 1638Ford Fancies iv. ii, Are you not enthroned The lady-regent? 1710Shaftesbury Adv. Author iii. ii. 167 The Method of expostulating with his Lady-Governess. 1721Strype Eccl. Mem. II. i. 3 The Lady Mary, the Kings daughter, appointed for the lady godmother. 1771Smollett Humph. Cl. 8 Aug., The lady-directress of the ball..had her conveyed to another room. 1820Scott Abbot xii, ‘They call me Lady Abbess, or Mother at the least, who address me’, said Dame Bridget.
d. Prefixed to designations of relationship, by way of respectful address or reference, as lady wife, etc. (Cf. F. Madame votre mère, etc.) arch. or genteel.
15..Roberte the Deuyll 522 in Hazlitt E.P.P. I. 239 And when he sawe hys mother goynge, He sayde, alas, Lady mother, speake with me. 1528More Dial. iii. xii. Wks. 227/2 But were I Pope. By my soule quod he, I would ye wer, & my lady your wife Popesse too. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. ii. vi. 983 A Turkey Pye, or a piece of Venison, which my Lady Grand-mother sent me. 1628Ford Lover's Mel. iv. ii, Your business with my lady-daughter toss-pot? 1655Dryden (title) Lines in a Letter to his Lady Cousin Honor Driden. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xv. v, Answer for yourself, lady cousin. 1805Scott Last Minstr. vi. xxiii, But that my ladye-mother there Sits lonely in her castle-hall. 1820W. Tooke tr. Lucian I. 730 As to your lady-bride, I envy not her beauty. 1840Dickens Lett. (1969) II. 7, I wish I could send you some autographs..but I find..that my lady wife has been bestowing them upon her friends. 1855Tennyson Maud i. iv. 15, I bow'd to his lady-sister as she rode by. 1895C. M. Yonge Long Vacation xxviii. 292 Mr. White, in his joy at possessing his graceful lady wife, had spared no expense. 1969Listener 27 Mar. 417/3 We don't think you've laid enough emphasis on the colonel's foresight, courage, and heroic lady wife. 1971‘A. Gilbert’ Tenant for Tomb viii. 142, I don't know how far your lady wife's in your confidence.
e. Lady Macbeth, with allusion to the character in Shakespeare's play Macbeth: a remorseless or melodramatic woman, usu. leading or assisting a weak man.
1876Trollope Prime Minister i. xi. 169, I feel myself to be a Lady Macbeth, prepared for the murder of any Duncan or any Daubeny who may stand in my lord's way. 1919Kipling Years Between 92 A boy drowning kittens Winced at the business; whereupon his sister (Lady Macbeth aged seven) thrust 'em under. 1969M. Pugh Last Place Left iv. 26 ‘I know you're up to something,’ Nell repeated. ‘You're taking all this far too calmly.’ ‘All right, Lady Macbeth.’ 1974J. Mann Sticking Place x. 153 Hasn't there been enough killing? I am no Lady Macbeth.
7. Wife, consort. Now, as in the original use, chiefly restricted to instances in which the formal title of ‘Lady’ is involved in the relationship. In the 18th and the former half of the 19th c. the wider use was prevalent in polite society, but is now regarded as vulgar, esp. in the phrase your good lady.
c1205Lay. 2864 Swa þe king haihte, to wrðscipe his læfdi. a1400–50Alexander 517 Sire þere sall borne be a barne of þi blithe lady. 1483Caxton G. de la Tour cxxxv. M v b, A grete lady, whiche was lady to a baron. 1613Organ Specif. Worcester Cathedral, Sr Jo Packinton & his Lady. 1686S. Sewall Diary 23 Sept., Gov. Bradstreet is gone with his lady to Salem. a1715Burnet Own Time ii. (1724) I. 338 About the end of May, Duke Lauderdale came down with his Lady in great pomp. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 7 The lady of a noble Venetian..is indulged with greater freedom in this respect. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ. (1775) II. 98 (Sword) The Marquis..supported his lady. c1796T. Twining Trav. Amer. (1894) 87 She was granddaughter of Mrs. Washington, the President's lady. 1796Lamb Let. to Coleridge Corr. & Wks. 1868 I. 11 It has endeared us more than any thing to your good lady. 1796Jane Austen Pride & Prej. (1833) 1 ‘My dear Mr. Bennet’, said his lady to him one day, ‘have you heard’ [etc.]. ― Sense & Sens. (1879) 1 By a former marriage, Mr. Dashwood had one son; by his present lady, three daughters. 1825Waterton Wand. S. Amer. iv. ii. 313 The unfortunate governor and his lady lost their lives. 1841L'pool Mercury 11 June 195/4 On Thursday, the 3d instant, the lady of Thomas William Phillips, Esq...of a daughter... On Monday last, at Everton, the lady of Thomas Shaw, Esq., of a daughter. 1841C. Anderson Anc. Models 101 An organ was lately given by the estimable lady of the Rev. J. B. Stonehouse..to the church of Owston. 1845Stephen Comm. Laws Eng. (1874) II. 608 As where it [i.e. a peerage] is limited to a man and the heirs male of his body by Elizabeth, his present lady. 1860O. W. Holmes Elsie V. vii. (1861) 71 ‘How's your health, Colonel Sprowle’. ‘Very well, much obleeged to you. Hope you and your good lady are well’.
II. In transferred applications.
†8. A queen at chess. Obs.
c1489Caxton Sons of Aymon xxii. 478 The duk rycharde..helde in his hande a lady of yvery, wherwyth he wolde have gyven a mate to yonnet.
9. A kind of butterfly; now painted lady.
1611Florio, Papiglione, any kind of Ladie or butter-flie. 1846Embleton in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club II. 171 Not a single specimen has been observed of the Peacock, Wood Lady, Wall Brown, or the Dark Green Aglaia. 1893Earl Dunmore Pamirs I. 197 This ‘painted lady’ was the name by which a certain gaudy butterfly was known.
10. The calcareous structure in the stomach of a lobster, serving for the trituration of its food; fancifully supposed to resemble the outline of a seated female figure.
1704Swift Batt. Bks. Misc. (1711) 253 Like the Lady in a Lobster. 1796J. Adams Diary 28 July Wks. 1851 III. 421 To-day, at dinner, seeing lobsters at table, I inquired after the Lady, and Mrs. B. rose and went into the kitchen to her husband, who sent in the little lady herself, in the cradle in which she resides. 1804Farley Lond. Art Cookery (ed. 10) 47 Take out their bodies, and what is called the lady.
11. The smallest size of Welsh (and Cornish) roofing slates. (Cf. countess, duchess.)
1803Sporting Mag. XX. 109 He had delivered to the defendant eight thousand Countesses and eleven thousand Ladies. 1859Gwilt Archit. ii. ii. (ed. 4) 501 Ladies are generally about 15 in. long, and about 8 in. wide. 1893Brown Opening Rly. to Delabole xxiii, We've countess, duchess..doubles, ladies, slabs, and flags.
12. A female hound. (Cf. 15 b, and lady pack in 17.)
1861G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. x. 80 Nineteen couple are they of ladies, with the cleanest of heads and necks.
13. Naut. (See quots.)
1711W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 43 A Lady's Hole, or Place for the Gunner's small stores, which Stores are looked after by one they call a Lady, who is put in by turns to keep the Gun-room clean. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Lady of the Gun-room, a gunner's mate, who takes charge of the after-scuttle, where gunners' stores are kept.
14. N. Amer. A female harlequin duck, Histrionicus histrionicus. See lord and lady (duck) (lord n. 16).
1792G. Cartwright Jrnl. I. p. xii, Lady, a water-fowl of the duck genus, and the hen of the lord.
III. In Combination.
15. appositively (quasi-adj.).
a. Prefixed, with the sense ‘female’, to designations of employment, office, function, etc., which are ordinarily applied to men, as in lady actor, lady citizen, lady clerk, lady critic, lady doctor, lady farmer, lady friend, lady guest, lady novelist, lady page, lady president, lady reader, lady singer, lady superintendent, lady tyrant, etc.
1684Otway Atheist ii. i. Wks. 1728 II. 29 The Lady-Tyrant of your Enchanted Castle. a1687Waller Wks. (1729) 222 Prologue for the Lady-Actors. 1694Congreve Double Dealer Epil., The Lady Criticks who are better Read, Enquire if Characters are nicely bred. 1775F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 109 She has a fine voice, and has great merit, for a lady singer. 1784R. Bage Barham Downs I. 9 Instead of hunting for..a wealthy widow, or a rich lady citizen, he retired to his country seat. 1818Shelley Rosalind & Helen 91 Bring home with you That sweet strange lady-friend. 1826Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. (1863) 428 A good sort of lady-farmer. 1827G. Darley Sylvia 110 Or any lady-page that soothes A steed whose neck she hardly smoothes. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxx, If our observant lady readers can deduce any satisfactory inferences from these facts, we beg them by all means to do so. 1848Blackw. Mag. Aug. 186 Miss Martineau is lady-president of the gossip school. 1858English Woman's Jrnl. I. 90 As she went through the streets,..rude cries of ‘Come on, Bill! let's have a good look at the lady-doctor!’ would meet her ears. 1860G. H. K. in Vac. Tour. 137 These hinds..are the lady-superintendents of an educational institution for young stags. 1873C. M. Yonge Pillars of House IV. xlii. 219 To be a lady⁓doctor was surely her vocation! 1879Geo. Eliot Let. 18 Mar. (1956) VII. 117 This week for the first time I am going to see a lady friend. 1890‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 333 The first lady-guest ever seen at Rainbar. 1891Argus (Melbourne) 7 Nov. 9/2 The ‘lady doctor’ has become an institution in Victoria. 1894Daily News 28 Mar. 3/2 To the lady clerks is allotted half the ledger keeping. 1895Hardy Jude v. iii. 343, I couldn't very well tell it to your lady friend. 1912A. Brazil New Girl at St. Chad's iv. 69 ‘We have a lady doctor, you see,’ said Ruth, ‘and she's so jolly.’ 1923Lady-novelist [see Apolline a.]. 1928R. Campbell Wayzgoose ii. 35 And still new-comers to the Wayzgoose throng And lady-novelists a thousand strong. 1931Weekend Rev. 17 Oct. 496/1 The night-watchman, after taunting Larry with his inexperience in affairs of the heart, is obliged to stand by and see the youngster making rapid headway in the affections of his own lady-friend. 1961Listener 30 Mar. 574/3 If ‘women novelists’ are to become ‘lady novelists’ as a matter of course, I give notice..that in future, when reviewing the novels of male writers of fiction, I shall make a point of referring to these writers as ‘gentlemen novelists’. 1975C. Aird Slight Mourning vi. 58 The lady doctor had arrived.
b. Used jocularly for ‘female’ with names of animals.
1820Shelley Œdipus ii. i. 157 Gentlemen swine, and gentle lady-pigs. 1832Irving Alhambra II. 33 The very beetle woos its lady-beetle in the dust. 1887G. R. Sims Mary Jane's Mem. 37 The dog..had five beautiful puppies afterwards, it being a lady-dog. 1894G. R. O'Reilly in Pop. Sci. Monthly Nov. 77 One..night an old lady cobra surprised me by depositing a number of living young ones.
c. Prefixed to designations of employment usually associated with inferiority of social rank, to denote that the person is or claims to be regarded as a lady. Cf. lady-help (see 16 below).
1811L. M. Hawkins C'tess & Gertr. I. 94 Some lady-nurses..forego not an hour's amusement. 1873St. Paul's Mag. ii. 233 He, a dignified ecclesiastic butler, with a perfect palate for port, to be levelled with a pert little chit of a ‘lady-housekeeper’. 1898Advt. in Westm. Gaz. 11 July 2/3 Lady-Cook, also Lady-Parlourmaid wanted..lady-nurse and man kept.
16. Obvious combinations:
a. attributive (pertaining to a lady or ladies), as lady-bower, lady-chamber; (characteristic of or befitting a lady), as lady-air, lady-fingers, lady-look, lady-slang, lady-trifle; (consisting of ladies), as lady portion, lady train, lady world.
b. similative, as lady-clad, lady-faced, lady-handed, lady-looking, lady-soft adjs.c. instrumental, as lady-laden adj.
a1637B. Jonson Underwoods, Eupheme ix, She had a mind as calm as she was fair, Not lost or troubled with light *lady-air. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xv. 253 What, I say, had I to do, to take upon me lady-airs, and resent?
1832J. Bree St. Herbert's Isle 19 The burly thane..oft in *lady-bower would long remain.
1853Merivale Rom. Rep. xi. (1867) 323 This tender nursling of a patrician *lady-chamber was climbing mountains on foot.
1847Tennyson Princess Prol. 119 But while they talk'd, above their heads I saw The feudal warrior *lady-clad.
c1610Sir J. Melvil Mem. (Bannatyne) 120 He wes very lusty, berdles, and *lady facit.
1831Howitt Seasons (1837) 317 Rose-wood desks, where *lady-fingers pen lady-lays.
1728Ramsay Archers diverting themselves 28 The *lady-handed lad.
1870Tennyson Holy Grail 54 Where the long Rich galleries, *lady-laden, weigh'd the necks Of dragons clinging to the crazy walls. 1887Times (weekly ed.) 24 June 4/4 Every balcony..was ‘lady-laden’.
1824Miss Mitford Village Ser. i. (1863) 4, I have never seen any one in her station who possessed so thoroughly that undefinable charm, the *lady-look.
1834H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xx. (1857) 291 So *lady-looking a person, and an heiress to boot. 1866Whittier Marg. Smith's Jrnl. Prose Wks. 1889 I. 11 His daughter, Rebecca, is just about my age, very tall and lady-looking.
1890‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 165 The *lady portion of the guests.
1821‘P. Atall’ (title) The Hermit in Philadelphia, Second Series, containing some Account of Young Belles and Coquettes..Dandy-Slang and *Lady-Slang.
1607Markham Caval. ii. (1617) 15 This Cauezan I haue seen very good hors-men vse, but with such a temperate and *Lady-soft a hand, that [etc.].
1717E. Fenton Poems 111 The *Lady-Train dispers'd, the pensive Form Of Agamemnon came.
1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. v. ii. 165, I some *Lady trifles haue reseru'd Immoment toyes.
1775F. Burney Early Diary 21 Nov., Being herself a performer of reputation in the *lady world, she [etc.].
17. a. Special comb. (in many cases orig. syntactical uses of lady genitive, in sense 3): Lady-altar, an altar in a Lady-chapel; lady-apple, a kind of small apple, with a red waxy-looking skin; valued chiefly for its ornamental appearance; also attrib.; Lady-bell (also Our Lady bell), a bell for ringing the Angelus; lady-chair, a seat formed by the hands of two persons standing facing each other: each person grasping his own left wrist with his right hand, and the right wrist of the opposite person with his left hand, or vice versa; lady-clock = lady-bird; lady-court, the court of a lady of a manor (in mod. Dicts.); lady-crab, a name given variously to certain species of crabs remarkable for elegance of colouring or form; (Our) Lady eve, even, the day before a Lady-day; lady-fluke (see quot.); lady-fly = lady-bird; lady-fowl, a name for the smew or the widgeon; lady-help, a woman engaged to perform domestic service on the understanding that she is to be considered and treated by her employers as a lady; lady-killer humorous, a man who is credited with dangerous power of fascination over women; so lady-killing n. and adj.; Lady-meat (also Lady's meat), alms given in Our Lady's honour arch.; lady-monger contemptuous, a ‘lady's man’; lady-pack, a pack of female hounds; † lady-pear, some variety of pear; (Our) Lady-psalter, the ‘psalter of the Blessed Virgin Mary’; Lady-quarter, the quarter in which Lady-day occurs; Lady-tide, the time of the year about Lady-day; † lady-wit, an effeminate pretender to culture; Lady-worshipper, one who worships the Virgin Mary. Also lady-bird, lady-cow, etc.
1898Weekly Reg. 16 July 68 Mrs. Franks..presented a carved oak *lady-altar in memory of her late father.
1860O. W. Holmes Prof. Breakf.-t. iii. (Paterson) 50 Joe, with his cheeks like *lady-apples. 1876T. Hardy Ethelberta (1890) 24 The girl with the lady-apple cheeks.
1541Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 8 For mendynge of the whele of our *Lady belle. 1872Ellacombe Bells of Ch. viii. in Ch. Bells Devon 395 Six other bells from the rood tower, called the Lady Bells.
1869Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Folks xxvi. 298 Tina..insisted upon it that we should occasionally carry her in a *lady-chair over to this island.
1848C. Brontë J. Eyre (1857) 255 That was only a *lady-clock, child, ‘flying away home’. 1894Hall Caine Manxman 113 A lady-clock settled on her wrist.
1882Cassell's Nat. Hist. VI. 200 The Velvet Fiddler Crab..in the Channel Islands is known as the *Lady Crab, from its velvet coat. 1884Stand. Nat. Hist. (1888) II. 63 Platyonichus ocellatus, lady crab. 1885C. F. Holder Marvels Anim. Life 171 Their motions..resembling those of our common lady-crab.
1306Pol. Songs (Camden) 219 This wes on oure *Levedy even. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 255 The Quene his wife was delivered of a daughter, on our lady Even before Christmas. 1603Owen Pembrokesh. (1891) 191 At vsuall feastes that ys the one on our ladie Eve in March, the other at Maye Eve.
1836Yarrell Brit. Fishes II. 323 *Lady fluke. The Holibut, Hippoglossus vulgaris.
1714Gay Sheph. Week Thursday 83 This *lady-fly I take from off the grass. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 209 Lady-fly with freckled wings, Watch her up the tall bent climb.
1772Rutty Nat. Hist. Dublin I. 335 The *Lady-Fowl..is much esteemed in the London market..the Male being distinguished by the name of Easterling, and the female strictly called the Lady-fowl. Ibid. 336 The cock Lady-fowl is entirely distinct from the cock Widgeon. 1893Newton Dict. Birds, Lady-fowl, said to be a name of the Wigeon.
1875Punch 11 Sept. 98/1 In poor genteel families, *lady-helps could hardly expect any wages. 1881M. E. Braddon One Thing Needful ix, I suppose we must call this paragon of yours a lady-help.
1811Ora & Juliet II. 197 Upwards of twenty sat down at table, amongst whom was the *lady killer, or Colonel Sackville. 1884Graphic 4 Oct. 362/1 He had been a lady-killer in his day, and was by no means out of the hunt yet.
1825C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 192 *Ladykilling coterie. 1837Marryat Dog-fiend li, ‘Pretty lady-killing’, muttered the sergeant. 1858R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma i. 2 Nature had favoured Billy's pretensions in the lady-killing way.
1849Rock Ch. of Fathers III. ix. 284 Many an alms was given for Mary's sake, and the food, so set aside, went by the name of ‘*Lady-meat’. 1879E. Waterton Pietas Mariana 115 Bread and meat given in our Ladye's love were called Saint Marye's loaf, and Ladymeat.
15971st Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iv. i. 1236 This haberdasher of lyes, this bracchidochio, this *ladyemunger. 1678Butler Hud. iii. i. 378 He serv'd two Prentiships and longer I' th' Myst'ry of a Lady-Monger.
1861G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. 10 He did not quite fancy making one of that crowd of irregular-horse who appear on a Wednesday at Crick or Misterton, to the unspeakable dismay of the Pytchley *lady pack. 1896Westm. Gaz. 18 Dec. 4/1 Crossing the Swift brook the lady pack made play across the meadows beyond at a rare pace.
1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. in Sylva etc. (1729) 223 Sugar-Pear, *Lady-Pear, Amadot, Ambret.
c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 113 Te seie eche day our *Ladi sauter. 1547Homilies i. Good Wks. iii. (1859) 61 Papistical superstitions and abuses..Lady Psalters and Rosaries.
1803in Naval Chron. XV. 217 The men working in *Lady Quarter, 1802.
1888Bill-heading at Maidstone, *Ladytide. 1894Athenæum 17 Mar. 341/1 The practice of sending sheep to be kept in the Weald districts from Michaelmas to Ladytide is not wholly abandoned.
1647H. More Song of Soul To Rdr. 6/1 Some *Lady-wits that can like nothing that is not as compos'd as their own hair, or as smooth as their Mistresses Looking-glasse.
1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 893/2 If God do make men that haue some deuotion, whiche are *Ladie worshippers [etc.].
b. In names of plants: lady-bracken, the brake, Pteris aquilina; lady-fern, an elegant fern, Athyrium Filix-femina; lady-key(s, (a) the primrose, Primula veris (Britten and Holland Plant-n. 1879); (b) (see quot.); lady-lords (see quot.); lady-of-the-night, an evergreen shrub, Brunfelsia americana, native to the West Indies and bearing white and yellow flowers which are particularly fragrant at night; lady orchid, orchis, Orchis purpurea, a European and Western Asian orchid with white and reddish-purple flowers.
1820Blackw. Mag. June 278/1 Having removed the heather and decayed leafs of *lady-bracken which covered the inscription. 1825–80Jamieson, Lady-bracken, the female fern.
1825J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 73 Groves o' the *ladyfern embowering the sleeping roe. 1859E. Capern Ball. & Songs 137 A crown of lady-fern she wore. 1863Kingsley Water-Bab. 14 The great tuft of lady ferns.
1887Kent. Gloss., *Lady-keys, same as Lady-lords. *Lady-lords, lords and ladies; the name given by children to the wild arum.
1924L. H. Bailey Man. Cultivated Plants 667 B[runfelsia] americana, L. *Lady-of-the-Night. 1959M. M. Kaye House of Shade xiii. 167 Lash..had taken her down into the garden—ostensibly to look at the nocturnal flowering Lady-of-the-Night which grew in profusion in a bed some distance from the house. 1960Harper's Bazaar July 80/2 The scent of frangipane and lady of the night.
1933M. J. Godfery Monogr. & Iconogr. Native Brit. Orchidaceæ 171 Orchis purpurea Huds. Brown-winged Orchid, Maids of Kent, *Lady Orchid. 1951V. S. Summerhayes Wild Orchids Brit. xiii. 251 (heading) Brown-winged or lady orchid (Orchis purpurea). Ibid. 252 The lady orchid belongs to the Southern Eurasian Element of the British orchid flora.
1855A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Gt. Brit. V. 208 Kentish country people call it [sc. O. fusca] the *Lady Orchis; and..though its form is not very suggestive of its name, yet..there exists some slight similarity in each blossom to a lady attired in wide-spread gown and close bonnet.
18. a. Specialized collocations with the genitive lady's (occas. ladies'): Ladies' Aid (Society), † (a) U.S. (Obs.) during the American Civil War, a women's organization devoted to sending garments, bandages, etc., to the soldiers; (b) N. Amer., an organization of women who support the work of a church by fund-raising, arranging social activities, etc.; ladies' cabin, car, carriage, on public transport, a compartment, etc., reserved for ladies; ladies' cloakroom, a cloakroom or lavatory for ladies; lady's companion, a small case or bag arranged to hold implements for needlework, etc.; ladies' fair ? nonce-wd., a bazaar; ladies' gallery, a gallery in the House of Commons reserved for ladies; lady's gown, ‘a gift made by a purchaser to the vendor's wife on her renouncing her life-rent in her husband's estate’ (Cassell); lady's hole, (a) Naut. (see quot.); (b) a card game (also my lady's hole); lady's hood Sc., the omentum of a pig; lady's horse, a horse trained to carry a lady riding side-saddle; similarly lady's hunter; lady's ladder, ‘shrouds rattled too closely’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867); lady's loaf = lady meat (sense 16); lady's maid, a woman servant whose special duty it is to attend to the toilet of a lady; lady's or ladies' man, a man who is devoted to the society of women and is assiduous in paying them small attentions; ladies' night, a function at a men's club, etc., to which ladies are invited; ladies' room = ladies' cloakroom; ladies' school, a school for the education of ‘young ladies’; lady's waist Austral. colloq., a small gracefully-shaped glass; a drink served in such a glass; lady's wind Naut. (see quot.); † lady's woman, (a) ? one who professes devotion to Our Lady; (b) a lady's maid.
1866F. Moore Women of War 214 Mrs. Wittenmeyer, as president of the *Ladies' Aid Society of Iowa. 1873Sentinel (Woodstock, Ont.) 5 Dec. 3/1 The Ladies' Aid Society in connection with the Baptist Church in this Town will hold a social this evening. 1893‘O. Thanet’ Stories Western Town 185 The furnishing of the church..is in charge of the Ladies' Aid Society. 1895Times (Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.) 4 Apr. 1/2 The Social [was] under the auspices of the Ladies Aid of the Methodist Church. 1908L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xiv. 143 She had taken it off..when returning from the Ladies' Aid. 1913E. H. Porter Pollyanna iii. 21 Part of the Ladies' Aid wanted to buy me a black dress and hat, but the other part thought the money ought to go toward the red carpet they're trying to get,—for the church, you know. 1964Calgary Herald Mag. 21 Mar. 8/9 The ‘Apron Social’ and tea given in the basement of the Knox Church last evening under the auspices of the Ladies' Aid Society of the congregation.
1832E. Grosvenor Diary July in G. Huxley Lady Elizabeth & Grosvenors (1965) vi. 124 There were 20 fellow-passengers, so that the *Lady's cabin was utterly untenable. 1925E. H. Young William iv. 42 She sat down on a velvet⁓covered couch in the ladies' cabin.
1842Dickens Amer. Notes I. iv. 145 There are no first and second class carriages..but there is a gentlemen's car and a *ladies' car.
1847F. A. Kemble Let. 29 May in Rec. Later Life (1882) III. 183 From Liverpool to Crewe I had companions in the *ladies' carriage in which I was. 1860E. Hall Diary 30 July in O. A. Sherrard Two Victorian Girls (1966) 263, I am thankful today that ‘Ladies’ carriages have been given up in our country! 1922E. H. Young Bridge Dividing iii. ix. 289 ‘I have to catch a train.’.. ‘Be careful to get into a ladies' carriage, Henrietta.’
1918A. Bennett Pretty Lady xxiii. 157 She hurried..to the *ladies' cloakroom, got her wraps.
1844Marg. Fuller Wom. 19th C. (1862) 35 Governors of *ladies' fairs are no less engrossed by such a charge, than the governor of a state by his.
1897Ouida Massarenes xvii, The speaker's box..is much more comfortable than the *Lady's Gallery.
1711W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 43 A *Lady's Hole, or Place for the Gunner's small Stores, which Stores are looked after by one they call a Lady. 1732Mrs. Pendarves Let. to Mrs. A. Granville in Mrs. Delany's Life & Corr. 385 We got early into our inn, played at my lady's hole, supped, and went early to bed. 1813Sporting Mag. XLII. 273 From whist, that charms the noble's soul, To kitchen putt and lady's hole.
1826J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 133 What black puddins!—and oh what tripe! Only think o' the *leddy's hood and monyplies!—Then the marrowbanes.
1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park I. iv. 71 Fanny should have a regular *lady's horse of her own. 1894Kipling Day's Work (1898) 46 An absolutely steady lady's horse—proof against steam⁓rollers, grade-crossings, and street processions. 1938D. A. Houblon Side-Saddle vii. 64 In Victorian days and even later a lady's horse to be perfect had always to canter with the off fore leading.
1948Horseman's Year 172 (heading) Royal Welsh Agricultural Society show{ddd}Hunters{ddd}*Ladies' Hunters. To be ridden side-saddle. 1955Horse & Pony Ann. Illustr. 1954–55 iii. 101 The leading ladies' hunters were Cufflink, Earmark,..Mighty Grand.
1875T. E. Bridgett Our Lady's Dowry 242 Alms, which naturally accompanied fasting, were also given in our Lady's honour. Indeed this was so constant a practice, that it acquired a peculiar name as Lady's meat or *Lady's loaf.
1808Ann. Reg. 71 Elizabeth Daniels, *lady's maid, said Sir A. Paget always visited at the house. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop xxxix, The man who sang the song with the lady's-maid. 1863M. E. Braddon Eleanor's Vict. (1878) I. iii. 23 The German governess and the Parisian lady's-maid still attended upon Vane's daughters.
1784Cowper Tiroc. 423 A slave at court, elsewhere a *lady's man. 1809Malkin Gil Blas vii. vii. (Rtldg.) 23, I should have chosen the youngest, and the most of a lady's man. 1842Thackeray Fitz-Boodle Papers Pref. (1887) 10, I am not..a ladies' man. 1891N. Gould Double Event 149 They told me you were not a ladies' man, Mr. Smirke.
1889G. B. Shaw London Music 1888–89 (1937) 266 An invitation from the Grosvenor Club to their ‘*ladies' night’ at the Grosvenor Gallery. 1970K. Giles Death in Church i. 18 The atmosphere of a Masonic ladies' night. 1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 142 On ladies' nights..men embrace and fool about.
1880‘E. Leathes’ Actor Abroad xviii. 226 Many of them retire to the *ladies' room, and changing their costume for evening dress reappear in the ball-room. 1927D. L. Sayers Unnatural Death xi. 120 The attendant in the Ladies' Room. 1948G. Vidal City & Pillar (1949) iii. 64 ‘I think,’ said Emily, when she came back from the ladies' room, ‘I think that we should go over to that room on the left and get a drink.’ 1971D. Eden Afternoon Walk ix. 124 I'll go to the ladies' room while you do.
1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. iv, He had an order for another *Ladies' School..door-plate.
1934Bulletin (Sydney) 4 Apr. 20/1 But a daintier goblet I never fingered than the hour⁓glass shape of a *lady's waist. 1963A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 59 A pony is drunk out of a small glass called a lady's waist.
1886Century Mag. XXXII. 700/2 A gentle breeze blew from the Shore..a ‘*lady's wind’, sailors would call it.
1579Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 885/2 Hee [St. Paul] saith not women but simple women, as if he said, these little *Ladies women [orig. ces petites bigotes], that woulde eat the crucifix (as we say) which make a shewe of great devotion. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. xi, The deplorable vanity and secondhand airs of a lady's woman.
b. In names of plants.
Lady's here is in origin a shortening of Our Lady's, and became familiar through the 16th c. herbalists; in more recent times ladies' has in some cases been substituted, the change being perhaps assisted by the old spelling ladies of the possessive singular. The designation is usually given to plants of a more than usual beauty or delicacy. (Cf. G. Marien-, frauen-, and F. de notre Dame.)
lady's bedstraw (see bedstraw); lady's bower, clematis; lady's comb, the Shepherd's Needle, Scandix Pecten; lady's delight, the violet; lady's ear-drop, the common fuchsia; lady's foxglove, the Great Mullein, Verbascum Thapsus; lady's glass, looking-glass, Campanula Speculum; (Our) Lady's hair, (a) the grass Briza media; (b) Adiantum Capillus-veneris, also called Venus' hair; † lady's linen, ? = lady-smock; † (Our) Lady's milkwort, a name for Lungwort, Pulmonaria officinalis; † (Our) Lady's mint, Mentha viridis; lady's navel [adaptation of L. umbilicus Veneris], a name for Navelwort, Cotyledon Umbilicus; † (Our) Lady's signet = lady's seal; lady's thimble, (a) the Heath Bell, Campanula rotundifolia; (b) the Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea (Syd. Soc. Lex. 1888); lady's thumb U.S., Polygonum Persicaria; † (Our) Lady's tree (see quot.). See also lady's finger, lady's glove, lady's laces, etc.
1597Gerarde Herbal ii. cccxxvi. (1633) 887 *Ladies Bower is called in Latine Ambuxum. 1696Phillips (ed. 5), Ladies Bower, (Clematis), a Plant, which..is fit to make Bowers and Arbors, even for Ladies. 1760J. Lee Introd. Bot. App., Lady's Bower, Clematis.
1597Gerarde Herbal ii. cccc. 884 The Latines call it Scandix..of others Acus Veneris, and Acus Pastoris, or Shepheards Needle, wilde Cheruill, and *Ladies Combe. 1783Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) i. s.v. Comb, Lady's comb, Pecten Veneris.
1843L. M. Child Lett. from N.Y. i. 2, I am like the *Lady's Delight, ever prone to take root. 1860O. W. Holmes Elsie V. v. (1861) 46 Flower-de-luces, and lady's-delights.
1829A. H. Lincoln Familiar Lect. Bot. xxv. 145 The *Ladies'-ear-drop (Fuchsia,) is a beautiful exotic. It has a funnel-form calyx of a brilliant red colour... This plant is a native of Mexico, except one species brought from the island of New Zealand. Ten species are said by horticulturists to be cultivated. 1882H. Friend Gloss. Devon. Plant Names 33 Lady's Eardrops. The common garden Fuchsia. Still employed by the older people, but not so commonly as of yore. 1887M. E. Wilkins Humble Romance 195 He cut lavishly sprays of dioletra, or lady's ear-drop, snow⁓balls, daffodils. 1908L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables i. 1 A little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies' eardrops. 1967D. G. Hessayon Be your own House Plant Expert (ed. 2) 18/2 Fuchsia (Lady's Eardrops). Spring and summer flowering plant with pendant blooms.
1776–96Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 248 Great White Mullein..*Ladies Foxglove.
1597Gerarde Herbal ii. civ. §4. 356 It is called..Venus looking glasse, Speculum Veneris, or *Ladies glasse.
1551*Ladyes heyre [see hair n. 4 b]. 1597Gerarde Herbal ii. cccclvii. 983 In English black Maiden haire and Venus haire, and may be called our Ladies haire. 1794Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xiii. 135 Briza or ladies' hair.
1761W. Stukeley Palæogr. Sacra (1763) 25 Botanists..show a very particular regard to the fair sex..as we may well conclude from so many names they give to plants; ladys fingers, ladys traces, *ladys linen,..ladys slipper, etc.
1640Parkinson Theat. Bot. 1740 *Ladies, or Venus looking-glasse. 1677Grew Anat. Plants, Colours Plants i. §15 (1682) 271 The youngest Buds of Ladys-Lookinglass.
1879Britten & Holland Plant-n., *Lady's (Our) Milkwort, Pulmonaria officinalis.
1597Gerarde Herbal ii. ccxv. 553 In English Speare Mint, common Garden Mint, *our Ladies Mint [etc.].
Ibid. cxliii. §3. 424 Nauelwoort is called..in English Pennywoort, Wall Pennywoort, *Ladies nauell, and Hipwoort. 1611Cotgr., Escueller, Hipwort, Wall-penniewort, Ladies-nauell (an hearbe).
1657W. Coles Adam in Eden cxci. 299 The black Bryony is called Sigillum Sanctæ Mariæ, our *Ladies Signet.
1853G. Johnston Nat. Hist. E. Bord. I. 134 Campanula rotundiflora. Blue-Bells: *Ladies' Thimbles. Ibid. 158 Our little girls glove their fingers with them [Digitalis purpurea] and call them Ladies' thimbles.
1608Topsell Serpents (1658) 601 In ancient time, the ignorant multitude, seeing a Birch tree with green leaves in the Winter, did call it our *Ladies Tree, or a holy tree, attributing that greenness to miracle.
Hence ˈladydom, the realm of ladies. ˈladyish a., resembling a lady, having the objectionable characteristics of a ‘fine lady’. ˈladyism, the manners or behaviour of a lady (cf. young-ladyism). ˈladyness, (a) cf. quot. 1538; (b) effeminacy.
1538Latimer Serm. & Rem. (Parker Soc.) 403 By reason of their lady [a wooden image of Our Lady] they have been given to much idleness; but now that she is gone, they be turned to laboriousness, and so from ladyness to godliness. 1785[E. Perronet] Occas. Verses, Who & What is a Man? 135 Powder'd fops of ladyness. 1830Examiner 773/1 The whining of an artificial and lady-ish City Miss. 1843Fraser's Mag. XXVIII. 568 Accustomed to the atmosphere and language of Ladydom. 1856G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Cov. xxi, Miss Molasses, the pink of propriety and ‘what-would-mamma-say’ ladyism.
Add:[I.] [4.] [e.] lady of the evening (or night) (see also 17 b below), a prostitute (euphem.). lady of (or with) the lamp, a popular name for Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), the hospital reformer and founder of modern nursing; also transf.
[1858Longfellow Santa Filomena in Courtship M. Standish 193 A Lady with a Lamp shall stand In the great history of the land, A noble type of good, Heroic womanhood.] 1898Corn. Mag. Dec. 721 (heading) The Lady with the Lamp. 1911D. A. Reid Mem. Crimean War vi. 44 We now find that Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service is an integral part of the British Army... What better monument could be erected to the ‘Lady of the Lamp’. 1919W. T. Grenfell Labrador Doctor (1920) xxiv. 398 The main impression on my mind was the extraordinary developments since the days of the Lady of the Lamp. c1925M. H. Gropper (title of play) Ladies of the evening. 1950S. J. Perelman Swiss Family Perelman (1951) ii. 20 A peccadillo which involved a lady of the evening being sawed into stove lengths. 1969Listener 10 Apr. 482/3 Not for nothing has the indefatigable Miss Jennie Lee earned for herself a Lady-with-the-Lamp reputation as Minister for the Arts. 1981H. Rawson Dict. Euphemisms (1983) 161 Lady of the night, lady of pleasure and lady of easy virtue..are euphemisms for prostitute. 1990M. Van Duyn Near Changes ii. 28 Even the starriest eye sees a fistfight raging over some hennaed lady of the night.
[c indigo][6.] f.[/c] Lady Baltimore cake U.S. [the name of Lady Baltimore, wife of Lord Baltimore (d. 1632), founder of Maryland], a light-textured white layer cake, traditionally iced and with a filling containing pecans, dried fruit, etc. Also ellipt. as Lady Baltimore.
1906O. Wester Lady Baltimore vii. 89, I'll have to-day, if you please, another slice of that Lady Baltimore. 1912M. Dawson Bk. Parties & Pastimes 233 For this purpose a chocolate layer cake or a Lady Baltimore cake leads. 1948Chicago Tribune 15 Jan. 4/6 (Advt.), Lady Baltimore Cakes, 85c–$1.10. 4 white, fine-grained layers, filled and iced with butter cream. 1970New Yorker 5 Sept. 36/3 My mother stayed out of the kitchen..except for making..an occasional cake, like the monument for Father's birthday called a Lady Baltimore. 1986Ibid. 17 Nov. 53/1 As the cook served dessert—a Lady Baltimore cake that must have cost her half a day—Laurance stood up.
[II.] [8.] Restrict † Obs. to sense in Dict. and add: b. A queen in a pack of playing-cards; find the lady = three-card trick s.v. three a. and n. B. III. 2.
1900Dialect Notes II. 44 Lady,..queen at cards. 1938F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xviii. 194 If they are travelling to the R.A.F. Pageant ‘the lady’ is disguised as an airman, en route to the Cup Final the photograph of a footballer is pasted over the face of the queen. 1950Landfall June 127 The poker game is in full swing... He lays down a pair of bullets to my three ladies. 1961J. Hugard Encycl. Card Tricks 181 Find the Lady. Remove two K's and a Q, reversing the Q [etc.]. 1971R. J. White Second-Hand Tomb v. 52 People keep on disappearing and popping up again, as if the whole show were disintegrating into an endless game of Find-the-lady. 1977Irish Press 29 Sept. 10/5 South..cashed the top hearts hoping the lady would drop.
[III.] [17.] [a.] lady-beetle (a) nonce-use, a female beetle; (b) chiefly U.S. = lady-bird n. 1; cf. lady-bug n.
1832W. Irving Alhambra II. 33 The very beetle woos its *lady-beetle in the dust. 1869J. Gage Jrnl. 17 July in Ann. Rep. Michigan Board Agric. (? 1869) VII. 175 Quite a number of lady-beetles have been noticed on the vines. 1891C. M. Weed Insects & Insecticides 9 Predacious insects are those which attack other insects from the outside... The handsome little lady-beetles..furnish good examples of this class. 1930Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Dec. 1078/3 The saving of the copra industry is as complete an example of what is now called ‘biological control’, the subduing of a living pest by the introduction of a living enemy of the pest, as the saving of the citrus industry of California by the introduction of a lady-beetle from Australia. 1972Swan & Papp Common Insects N. Amer. xx. 403 The lady beetles or coccinellids are easily distinguished by their shape, and the three-segmented tarsi. 1991Amer. Horticulturalist July 16/1 Tansy repels flies and attracts lady beetles.
[18.] [a.] ladies' college, a college established for the education of girls or young women (freq. in the name of such establishments).
1849Fraser's Mag. July 104/1 We are able to announce that another *Ladies' College will be opened in October next in Bedford Square. 1895C. M. Yonge Long Vacation xxi. 223 She had received from her father permission to enter a ladies' college, and the wherewithal. 1991Times Educ. Suppl. 8 Mar. 5/3 Enid Castle, president of the Girls' Schools Association and head of Cheltenham Ladies College, believes the recession has not yet fully set in.
ladies' compartment (now rare): on public transport, a compartment reserved for ladies.
1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. I. i. ii. 30 She persisted in refusing..companionship. She would be put into the *ladies' compartment and go right on. She could rest..in the train. 1931D. L. Sayers Five Red Herrings vii. 84 We made for a nice, old-fashioned Ladies' Compartment, not being great smokers in confined spaces. 1992Sunday Observer (New Delhi ed.) 6–12 Sept. 7/7 The police was also successful in establishing the involvement of the Ganpathi group in the burning of the ladies compartment of the Kakatiya Express in late 1990.
Ladies' Mile = Rotten Row n. 1.
1866M. E. Braddon Lady's Mile I. i. 1 The mighty tide of fashion's wonderful sea, surging westward, under the dusty elms and lindens of the *Lady's Mile. 1975M. Crichton Great Train Robbery xvi. 82 The spongy, muddy pathway in Hyde Park called the Ladies' Mile, or Rotten Row.
c. The genitive lady's, ladies' is also used to designate items of clothing, accessories, and other goods designed or intended (with varying degrees of specificity) to be worn or used by women; freq. characterized as being smaller, daintier, or less robust than the equivalent item for men.
1692W. Congreve Let. 21 Aug. (1964) 8, I am forced to Borrow Ladies paper but I think it will contain all that I can tell you. 1726J. Hobson Diary 8 Oct. in Yorks. Diaries (Surtees) 258 Out of all..came pyramidicall streams of light,..forming such a figure as a ladies' umbrella. 1793Cabinet-Makers' London Bk. of Prices(ed. 2) 161 A Rudd, or Lady's Dressing Table..Three feet four inches long, two feet wide, three drawers in front, a glass frame hing'd to each end drawer, and supported by quadrants, a moulding on the edge of the top, plain Marlbro' legs, and an astragal round the bottom of the frame. 1840R. H. Dana Two Yrs. before Mast iii. 20 A ship is like a lady's watch, always out of repair. 1895Army & Navy Co-op Soc. Price List 1059 Ladies' knickerbockers. For walking, golf, tennis, riding and cycling. 1913W. Owen Let. 27 Dec. (1967) 224 A delightful silver Precision Watch, small (but not ‘Ladies’). 1944C. Drepperd Primer of Amer. Antiques 233/1 Ladies' Twist, a dainty roll of flavored tobacco favored by ladies who chewed it as the most genteel manner of using tobacco. 1984New Yorker 12 Nov. 134/2 It probably wasn't called a snubby but a..lady's gun.
▸ ladies who lunch n. (also occas. in sing. as lady who lunches) orig. U.S. (freq. depreciative) affluent women of leisure, pursuing a life of cultural diversions and social events, esp. lunches in expensive restaurants.
1970S. Sondheim Ladies who Lunch (song) in G. Furth & S. Sondheim Company ii. iv. 106 Here's to the ladies who lunch—Everybody laugh. Lounging in their caftans and planning a brunch On their own behalf. 1985Variety 21 Aug. 18/5 Most of his conquests are ladies who lunch with little redeeming social or intellectual value. 1990New Yorker 31 Dec. 86/2 The title character..is a pampered Upper East Side lady-who-lunches. 2001Guardian 13 July ii. 9/3 As if Notting Hill's ladies who lunch were not already spoilt for choice when it comes to exclusive shopping experiences.
▸ ladies' bar n. now chiefly hist. a room reserved for women in a public house, or other establishment serving refreshments.
1859G. A. Sala Gaslight & Daylight xi. 127 The bar was cut up into little compartments;..and there was..the private bar, the *ladies' bar, the wine and liqueur entrance, [etc.]. 1897Minutes Evid. Royal Comm. Liquor Licensing Laws III. 171/2 in Parl. Papers 1898 ((C. 8694)) XXXVI. 9 Several of the very large public-houses now in the Buckingham Palace Road, and in Notting Hill..have opened ladies' bars especially for women. 1979G. Butler & C. Mann New Bk. S. Afr. Verse in Eng. 254 He disappears into the ladies' bars and is never seen again. 2000A. Sayle Barcelona Plates 212 The Sandown..had once been split into a nest of little rooms reflecting the minute gradations of caste, saloon, public bar, smoking room, ladies' bar, four ale bar.
▪ II. lady, v.|ˈleɪdɪ|
[f. lady n.]
†1. trans. To make a lady of; to raise to the rank of a lady; to address as ‘lady’. Obs.
1607Marston What you will i. i. Wks. 1887 II. 337 Iaco. Nay, sir, her estimation's mounted up. She shall be ladied and sweet-madam'd now. Ran. Be ladied? Ha! ha! 1614W. B. Philosopher's Banquet (ed. 2) A iij b, Widowes with their heapes of hourded gold, That would be Ladied though a month to hold.
†b. To render lady-like or feminine. Obs.
1656W. Montagu Accompl. Wom. 121 It is to be feared that Ladies too Chevaliere, are beyond modesty: Men too much Ladyed, are short of Manhood.
2. intr. to lady it: to play the lady or mistress. (Cf. to lord it, queen it.) rare.
1600Breton Pasquil's Mad-cappe 27 A Iacke will be a Gentleman And mistris Needens Lady it at least. a1638Mede Wks. i. (1672) 140 That great seven-hilled City still Ladies it over the Nations of the Earth. 1868W. Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 252 My lawn with a single harebell ladying it over the grass. |