beldame

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   archaic and often disparaging: an old woman, especially one imagined as ugly or witchlike

   The disguised fortune-teller appeared to the guests as a bent old beldame.

2. 2
   noun

   obsolete: a grandmother or female ancestor

   The ballad praised the beldame who had preserved the family story.

From late Middle English beldame or beldam, formed from bel, 'fair or fine,' + dame, 'lady or mother,' both through French from Latin. The originally respectful expression could mean grandmother or female ancestor; over time it deteriorated into a disparaging term for an old woman imagined as ugly or witchlike.

Topics