| 释义 |
‖ madame|madam; often məˈdɑːm, or anglicized ˈmædəm|
Also madam. Pl. mesdames; † madames.
[Fr.: see madam n.
The uses in which the word is meant to represent a foreign title are treated in the present article, although in early examples the spelling is often madam. For madame, when it is a mere variant spelling of the Eng. word, see madam.]
1. a. The title prefixed to the surname of a French married woman (corresponding to the Eng. ‘Mrs.’, ‘Lady’, etc., according to degree of rank). Abbreviated Mme.; in Eng. books and newspapers Mdme. often occurs.
In English use it is very commonly applied to a married woman belonging to any foreign nation (substituted, e.g., for the Ger. Frau or the Du. Mevrouw). It is also frequently assumed (instead of ‘Mrs.’) by English or American professional singers or musicians, and by women engaged in businesses such as dressmaking, in which native taste or skill is reputed to be inferior to that of Frenchwomen.
a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. xv. §155 One day he visited madam Turyn. 1699Petiver Musei Petiver. 46 Madam Margaretha Hendrina van Otteren, Widow to..Dr. Oldenland. 1706Luttrell Brief Rel. 18 May (1857) VI. 46 Mrs. Skelton, daughter to Madam Orfeur. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. x, ‘The Lady's name’, said Ralph,..‘is Mantalini—Madame Mantalini’. 1871E. C. G. Murray Member for Paris I. 258 One of Madame Roderheim's plushed footmen. Ibid. 296 ‘Father Glabre never talks politics’, answered Mdme. de Margauld. 1877J. Grant Six Yrs. Ago II. 188 Madame von Hohenthal. 1888Mapleson Mem. (ed. 2) I. 193 Mdme. Christine Nilsson.
b. Used (both vocatively and otherwise) with omission of the name, or in substitution for it.
1853C. Brontë Villette xiv, As soon as Georgette was well, Madame sent her away into the country. 1894S. Weyman Man in Black 198 Presently madame followed her example.
†2. The title given to female members of the French royal family; a French princess; spec. the eldest daughter of the French king or of the dauphin; in the reign of Louis XIV, the wife of monsieur, the king's only brother. Obs.
1670G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. i. 14 In the presence of Madam Royall in Turin. 1679Marriage Charles II, 7 Next to her followed Madam. 1701Lond. Gaz. No. 3714/3 Madame does not yet give Audience. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. 302 The King of France had courted Madame Soissons, and made a shew of courting Madame [sc. the Duchess of Orleans]. 1765Ann. Reg. 112 Don Philip, duke of Parma,..has left issue, by the late madame of France, a prince and a princess. 1766Ibid. ii. 4 The Madames of France were much devoted to reading in their private apartments. 1798R. C. Dallas tr. Cléry's Jrnl. Occur. Louis XVI 40 A small antichamber almost without light, was occupied by Madame Royale and Madame Elizabeth.
†3. A French married woman; a Frenchman's wife. Obs.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, i. i. 23 The Madams too, not vs'd to toyle, did almost sweat to beare The Pride vpon them. Ibid. iii. v. 28 Dolphin. By Faith and Honor, Our Madames mock at vs. 1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. iv. i, I would tell you, which Madame lou'd a Monsieur. 1627Drayton Agincourt cxlvii, In which [a Chariot] they meane to Paris him to bring, To make sport to their Madames and their Boyes. 1765Bickerstaffe Maid of Mill i. vi. 11 When I was on my travels, among the madames, and signoras, we never saluted more than the tip of the ear.
4. = madam n. 3 c (d).
1871N.Y. Herald 29 July 6/2 The Madame..sent her to an infamous den in Forsyth Street kept by a Mrs. Hines. 1922V. Woolf Jacob's Room ix. 171 Only Madame herself..had about her that leer, that lewdness. 1934A. Woollcott While Rome Burns 157 Visiting the local Maison Tellier..and taking the madame and all her girls out duck-shooting. 1961M. Jones Potbank xxvi. 111 Her behaviour..made me think of a madame in the more discreet sort of brothel. 1969G. Greene Trav. with my Aunt i. viii. 83 There was a discipline in the old-time brothels. The madame..played a rôle similar to that of the headmistress of Roedean. 1975Sunday Times 12 Jan. 37/2 She plays the part of the notorious Xaviera Hollander, New York call-girl and madame. |