Lady Meaning
/ˈleɪ.di/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThe mistress of a household.
nounA woman of breeding or higher class, a woman of authority.
Sentence Examples
You should know better than to ask a lady her age.
Faint heart never won fair lady.
There's a lady waiting to see you.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The elderly ____ opened the door for the young boy with a smile of kindness.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The elegant ____ was wearing a long silk gown and a diamond necklace to the royal ball late last night.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree 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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"‘[…] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”.[…]’."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
"Of all theſe bounds euen from this Line, to this, / With ſhadowie Forreſts, and with Champains rich’d / With plenteous Riuers, and wide-ſkirted Meades / We make thee Lady."
— c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 283, column 2:
"’T was the proudest hall in the North Countree,
And never its gates might opened be,
Save to lord or lady of high decree[…]"
— 1848, James Russell Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfaul, 6th edition, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, published 1858:
"The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 58:
"It is my Lady, O it is my Loue, O that ſhe knew ſhe were,
She ſpeakes, yet ſhe ſayes nothing, what of that?"
— c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 59, column 2:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The elderly ____ opened the door for the young boy with a smile of kindness.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The elegant ____ was wearing a long silk gown and a diamond necklace to the royal ball late last night.