monden.
/mɒnd/, U.S. /moʊnd/, /mɑnd/ Now chiefly literary.
The social world of fashionable or aristocratic people; such people collectively. Also: a person's own social circle or set. Cf. grand monde n., beau monde n., etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > the common people > specific classes of common people > fashionable society > [noun]
higheOE
high life?a1518
towna1616
world1618
grand monde1673
society1693
beau monde1712
fine world1740
monde1765
tonc1770
high society1782
fashion1807
all the world1808
society1840
smart set1851
swelldom1854
Fifth Avenue1858
fashionabledom1859
haut monde1864
the big cheesea1910
higlif1911
haute Bohème1925
café society1937
jet set1949
beautiful people1950
1765 H. Walpole Lett. 26 Sept. When the monde returns to Paris, I shall probably be more dissipated.
1774 W. Mason Let. 23 Apr. in Corr. H. Walpole (1955) XXVIII. 158 I..expect you will think no personages of less monde fit to invite to our partie quarrée.
1823 Ld. Byron Don Juan: Canto XIV xix. 124 'Tis said..That no one has succeeded in describing The monde, exactly as they ought to paint.
1862 W. M. Thackeray Adventures of Philip I. iv. 56 You come home late, and you don't live in a proper monde, sir!
1872 E. Braddon Life in India v. 167 Bills have been left at the houses of the monde.
1926 A. Huxley Let. 6 Feb. (1969) 267 Most of the Englishmen are of the export variety one rarely meets at home—at any rate in one's own monde.
1978 A. Powell To keep Ball Rolling ii. iv. 58 He was the only British artist found acceptable in the Paris monde of Picasso and Cocteau.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1765