dame

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /deɪm/ UK /deɪm/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like dem /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/

Meanings

1

noun
a woman of rank or, in British usage, a titled honorific equal to a knight

She was made a dame for her services to medicine.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a woman of rank or, in... lady matron madamnoblewomanwoman

Opposites

sir lord gentleman

Word family

Related forms damsel madam madonna dam

Simplified etymology

Dame came ultimately from Latin domina, meaning “mistress.” Its earliest English sense was “female ruler”; it later became a form of address and legal title for a woman of rank, while a popular strand referred to the mistress of a household or school and then more generally to a mature woman.

Etymology

From Old French dame ('lady, mistress'), from Latin domina ('lady, mistress of a household'), feminine of dominus ('lord, master').

dame Old French domina Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# dame

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /deɪm/
**IPA (UK):** /deɪm/

## Meanings
1. a woman of rank or, in British usage, a titled honorific equal to a knight

## Examples
- She was made a dame for her services to medicine.

## Synonyms
- lady
- matron
- madam
- noblewoman
- woman

## Antonyms
- sir
- lord
- gentleman

## Related Forms
- damsel
- madam
- madonna
- dam

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dame
- Root: domina

## Etymology
From Old French dame ('lady, mistress'), from Latin domina ('lady, mistress of a household'), feminine of dominus ('lord, master').

## AI Etymology
Dame comes from Old French dame ('lady, mistress'), from Latin domina ('lady, mistress of a household'), feminine of dominus ('lord, master'). The historical trail runs through Old French dame and Latin domina. In modern use it means a woman of rank or, in British usage, a titled honorific equal to a knight. Related forms include damsel, madam, madonna, dam.

## Topics
- People & Society

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