madam
B2Meanings
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1
noun
A polite form of address for a woman or lady.
Mrs Grey wondered if the outfit she was trying on made her look fat. The sales assistant just said, “It suits you, madam”.
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2
noun
A conceited or quarrelsome girl.
Selina kept pushing and shoving during musical chairs. The nursery school teacher said she was a bad-tempered little madam.
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3
noun
A woman who runs a brothel, particularly one that specializes in finding prostitutes for rich and important clients.
After she grew too old to work as a prostitute, she became a madam.
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4
verb
To address as "madam".
Madam me no Madam, but learn to retrench your vvords; and ſay Mam; as yes Mam, and no Mam, as other Ladies VVomen do. Madam! 'tis a year in pronouncing.
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5
verb
To be a madam; to run (a brothel).
The writer has never accepted the criterion “will it make money?” He has known that the application of such an irrelevancy to any of the arts and sciences resulted in sterility, error and waste. But what is more important, the writer will not pretend that this is not so. He will not pretend that the money criterion is a valid point of reference. The result has been that the writer has been kicked around from furnished room to the luxurious offices of advertising agencies and those palaces of prostitution which are madamed by public relations counsellors.
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6
noun
Alternative letter-case form of madam.
The conſtant queſtion, upon her offering to ſtir abroad, was, where are you going Madam? To ſee the King my papa, replied the Princeſs. That cannot be Madam. No? why ſo? It is not the Etiquette. — And thus, if ſhe had a mind to viſit any of the Mesdames, the king’s ſiſters or aunts, ſhe was always told, it was not the Etiquette.
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7
noun
a woman of refinement
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8
noun
a woman who runs a house of prostitution
Etymology
From Middle English madame, from Old French madame, from ma (“my”) + dame (“lady”), from post-classical Latin mea domina. Doublet of Madonna.
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