## Meanings
1. A polite word for a woman.
2. A polite way to address or refer to women, especially in a group.
3. A woman who behaves with good manners and refinement, or one of high social class.

## Examples
- A nice lady at the library helped me.
- Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to be here today.
- A chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady.

## Derived Forms
- barlady
- belady
- byrlady
- chairlady
- charlady
- cumberlady
- elf-lady
- forelady
- gaydy
- ladify
- ladily
- ladiness

## Related Forms
- lord

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *dʰeyǵʰ-
- Root: lady
- Root: hlǣfdīġe

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Lady comes 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. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. The historical line also includes *dʰeyǵʰ-.

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- People & Society

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