▪ I. dame
(deɪm)
Also 5 Sc. deym(e, 5– deme, 9 north. dial. deame, deeam.
[a. OF. dame (11th c. in Littré):—earlier damme = Pr. dama, domna, It. donna:—L. domina lady, mistress, fem. of dominus lord, master. A variant now differentiated is dam2.]
I. Expressing relation or function.
1. A female ruler, superior or head: = ‘lady’, as fem. of lord (‘our most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen Victoria’); the superior of a nunnery, an abbess, prioress, etc.; spec. the title given to Benedictine nuns who have made their solemn profession (cf. Dan1, Dom1); also, any fully professed nun. Also fig. or transf.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 428 Almihti God..ȝiue ure dame his grace, so lengre so more. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 774 When he [= she] was hurr' Abbas and hurr' Dame. c 1425 Hampole's Psalter Metr. Pref. 24 At a worthy recluse prayer cald dame Merget kyrkby. c 1490 Promp. Parv. 113 (MS. K) Dame, domina. c 1590 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. (1908) V. 192 Dame Isabel Whitehead an ancient religious woman. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 440 Reason, which is the principal faculty and power of the soule..is called of them the Queene, Dame, and Mistress. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 612 Sovran of Creatures, universal Dame. 1677 Gale Crt. Gentiles II. iii. 139 Zenobia Queen of Arabia and Dame of Antioch. a 1700 Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. (1911) IX. 335 She leaving the world went over to the English Benedictine Dames of our Blessed Lady of Consolation. Ibid. 339 The R{supd} Dames, Dame Magdalena, D. Augustina, D. Maria, and D. Clementia. 1795 in B. N. Ward Dawn Cath. Revival (1909) II. xxiii. 82 The three houses of English Dames at Paris. 1867 A. T. Drane Chr. Schools II. iv. 179 Dame Mabel Wafre, abbess of Godstow. 1908 P. Nolan (title) The Irish Dames of Ypres, being a history of the Royal Irish Abbey of Ypres. |
2. a. The ‘lady’ of the house, the mistress of a household, a housewife. Now arch. or dial. (my dame = my wife, my ‘missus’), or humorously applied to an aged housewife.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace 15150 At Londone anoþer kyng gan wone..Saberk þan was his name, Dame Rytula highte his dame. c 1386 Chaucer Shipman's T. 356, I toke vnto our dame Ȝoure wif at home þe same gold aȝein. 1483 Cath. Angl. 89 Dame; vbi a huswyfe. 1535 Coverdale Isa. xxiv. 2 The Master as the seruant, the dame like the mayde. 1548–9 (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Catechism Rubr., Fathers, mothers, maisters, and dames. 1593 Bilson Govt. Christ's Ch. 58 Every poor woman that hath either maid, or apprentise is called Dame: and yet Dame is as much as Domina and used to Ladies of greatest account, as Dame Isabel and Madam. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 57 Upon This day, she was..Both Dame and Seruant: Welcom'd all, seru'd all. 1741 Richardson Pamela III. lvii. 147 The Gentry love both him and my Dame, and the poor People adore them. 1833 Carlyle in Emerson Eng. Traits Wks. (Bohn) II. 7 My dame makes it a rule to give to every son of Adam bread to eat. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss. s.v., My deeam, my mistress, my wife. An aud deeam: an old woman. |
b. transf.
| 1632 Milton L'Allegro 52 The cock..stoutly struts his dames before. |
c. A girl; a woman. Chiefly U.S. slang.
Also dial. (see E.D.D.).
| 1902 Commentator (N.Y.) Jan. 104 Look to de frowsy dames erbout us. 1923 G. McKnight Eng. Words iv. 61 In the vocabulary of modern youth, chivalry is dead... A girl is a jane, a dame, a moll, [etc.]. 1928 Punch 12 Dec. 666/1 Skid is reputed to be a squire of dames (‘dame’ being apparently the American feminine of ‘guy’). 1929 G. Mitchell Mystery of Butcher's Shop xvii. 192 Here was this frightful dame named Bradley coming and invading the place. 1936 A. Huxley Eyeless in Gaza xxv. 353 Mr. Beavis..began to describe his researches into modern American slang... ‘I might say you had a dame complex, Anthony.’ 1962 J. Cannan All is Discovered iii. 77 I've never set eyes on the dame. |
d. In modern pantomime, a comic character, that of a middle-aged woman, traditionally played by a man.
| 1902 in A. E. Wilson Prime Minister of Mirth (1956) iii. 53 Mr. Robey is different. To a stage which for years had been inhabited by pantomime ‘dames’, by the drink comedian, by the lodger and by the lodger's wife he came. 1925 M. W. Disher Clowns & Pantomimes iii. 44 The wife of Noah..is sister to the dame of pantomime. 1933 G. Robey Looking Back on Life xi. 88 My most important pantomimes..were in the big cities... I was often cast for the Dame. 1946 M. Dickens Happy Prisoner ix. 189 He had been afraid they were going to guy her up like a pantomime dame. 1950 Oxf. Jun. Encycl. IX. 273/2 Pantomimes..all have their stock characters—the Fairy Queen, the Demon King, the Clown, the Dame (played by a male comedian). 1961 E. Williams George xxiii. 368 He was like a lively don who spends his vacs playing dame in some witty pantomime. |
3. The mistress of a private elementary school for children. (Usually an old woman or widow.) Now almost Obs.
| a 1649 Winthrop New. Eng. (1826) II. 50 He bewailed..his disobedience to his parents, his slighting and despising their instructions and the instuctions of his dame. 1850 W. Irving Goldsmith i, Those good old motherly dames, found in every village, who cluck together the whole callow brood..to teach them their letters. |
4. At Eton: A matron who keeps a boarding-house for boys at the school. (Also applied to a man who does the same.)
| c 1737 H. Walpole Let. to Montagu (1857) I. 15 A dame over the way, that has just locked in her boarders. 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 52 Do you bid the Dames of old Eton appear. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby i. ii, The room in the Dame's house where we first order our own breakfast. 1886 Dowden Life Shelley I. 22 Hexter..being, not only an Eton writing-master and a ‘dame’, but also a magistrate of the county. |
II. Expressing rank or honour.
5. A form of address originally used to a lady of rank, or a woman of position; the feminine corresponding to Sire; = My lady, Madam: gradually extended to women of lower rank, and, after the 16th c., left to these (cf. sense 2, 6 c).
| a 1225 Leg. Kath. 2080 Hu nu, dame, dotestu? Cwen, acangestu nu? a 1300 Cursor M. 8349 (Cott.) Dame, I did þe hider call, Als mi wedded wijf of all. a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 56 Dame, he sede, þis hail is þin. c 1386 Chaucer Reeve's T. 36 Þer durst no wiȝt clepe hur but dame. a 1440 Sir Eglam. 871 ‘Dame,’ he seyde to the qwene, ‘Mekylle of solas have we sene.’ c 1462 Wright's Chaste Wife 139 Thus seyd the wyfe of the hows, ‘Syr, how faryth my swete spouse..?’ ‘Sertes, dame,’ he seyd, ‘wele’. c 1470 Henry Wallace v. 330 A wedow thar duelt..‘Fayr deyme’, he said, ‘go get sum meit for me’. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. iv. 29 Fare thee well Dame, what ere becomes of me, This is a Soldiers Kisse. 1669 Penn No Cross x. §5 Now ..men of ordinary Trades in England [are called] Sir, and their Wives, Dame; (which is the legal Title of a Lady), or else Mistress. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 90 How much was it, dame? |
† 6. a. Prefixed as a title to the name of a lady or woman of rank; = Lady, Mistress, Miss. Now only fig. in personifications, as Dame Fortune, Dame Nature.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 23719 (Cott.) Dame [v.r. Dam] fortune turnes þan hir quele. c 1305 Saints' Lives in E.E.P. (1862) 71 Tuei maidenes clene ynou hire douȝtren were also Dame Margerie and dame Alice..Dame Mabille þe gode moder þis children louede ynou. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 151 The Emperours doghter dame Custance. 1413 Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle i. i. (1859) 1 The noble worthy lady dame Misericord. 1500–20 Dunbar Lucina Schynnyng 11 Me thocht Deme Fortoun..Stude me beforne. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 119 Alexander king of Scottes maryed dame Jane the sister of king Henry. 1593 [see 2]. 1600 Thynne Emblems xiii, Dame Lais is a puritane. 1669 A. Browne Ars Pict. (1675) 14 Dame Nature is extremely Various in her Representations. |
b. The legal title prefixed to the name and surname of the wife of a knight or baronet, for which Lady prefixed to the surname is in common use.
| 1611 Patents creating baronets in Selden Titles Hon. ii. v. §46 Quod uxores..gaudeant hac appellatione, videlicet Anglice, Lady, Madame, et Dame respective, secundum usum loquendi. 1614 Ibid. ii. ix. §2 By custom..the Ladies that are Knights' wives are in conveyance for the most part stiled Dames, and other Ladies only of greater honor, Ladies; which we see is a title much more frequently given to this sex than Lord to males. 1648 Prynne Plea for Lords 42 Dame Alice Piers was brought before the lords. 1661 Protests Lords I. 19 Sir Edward Powell Knt. and Brt., and Dame Mary his wife. 1793 in J. L. Chester Westm. Abbey Reg. (1876) 452 Dame Sidney Hawkins [relict of a knight] died the 18th. |
c. Prefixed to the surname of a housewife, an elderly matron or schoolmistress. arch. or dial.
| c 1300 Havelok 558 [Grim] bar him hom to hise cleue, And bi-taucte him dame leue [his wife]. 1575 J. Still Gamm. Gurton Prol., Dame Chat her deare gossyp. [Also called ‘Goodwife Chat’, ‘Mother Chat’.] 1791 Boswell Johnson, He was first taught to read English by Dame Oliver, a widow, who kept a school for young children in Lichfield. a 1894 Chapbook title. The History of Dame Trot and her Cat. |
7. a. The wife or daughter of a lord; a woman of rank, a lady. Now historical or poetic.
| 1530 Palsgr. 212/1 Dame, a lady, dame. a 1562 G. Cavendish Life of Wolsey, Your..banquette, where was assembled such a number of excellent fair dames. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 298 [Thisbe] the fairest Dame That liu'd, that lou'd, that lik'd, that look'd with cheere. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 282 Hee'l say in Troy..The Grecian Dames are sun-burnt. 1630 Wadsworth Pilgr. vii. 73 They..intice likewise the young Dames. 1702 Pope Sappho 17, No more the Lesbian dames my passion move. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 251 Dames of ancient days Have led their children through the mirthful maze. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 383 Dames of high rank visited him [Claude Duval] in prison. 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh iii. 345 She had the low voice of your English dames. |
b. A woman in rank next below a lady: the wife of a knight, squire, citizen, yeoman. arch. or dial.
| 1574 Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1577) 20 The Ladyes and dames that serue you, and the gallants and Courtiers that attende vppon you. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 189 ¶7 The city dame who talks of her visits at great houses, where she happens to know the cook-maid. 1864 E. Capern Devon Provincialism, Dame, an appellation bestowed on yeomen's wives. |
c. The title of female members of the Primrose League of the same rank as the ‘knights’.
| 1890 G. S. Lane Fox Primrose League 13 The members of the League consist of Knights, Dames, and Associates (men and women). |
d. The title of women members of the Order of the British Empire; also Dame Commander, Dame Grand Cross.
| 1917 Times 2 June 6/1 The New Order of the British Empire... Degrees of classification for women,..(1) Dame Grand Cross, (2) Dame Commander, (3) Dame Companion. 1930 Ibid. 1 Jan. 14 Made a Dame of the Order of the British Empire for her services to aviation. |
III. A mother; = dam n.2
† 8. A mother. Obs. a. of human beings.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 230 Ase þe moder mid hire ȝunge deorlinge vlihð from him..& let hit sitten one, & loken ȝeorne abuten, & cleopien, Dame! dame! & weopen. c 1275 in O.E. Misc. 190 Hire sire and hire dame þreteþ hire to bete. c 1386 Chaucer Manciple's T. 213 Thus taughte me my dame; My sone [etc.]. c 1400 Test. Love Prol. (1560) 272/1 In such wordes as wee learneden of our dames tongue. ? c 1475 Sqr. lowe Degre 622 To bydde this chylde go sucke his dame. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 1477 The sire, the sonne, the dame and daughter die. |
b. of animals; = dam n.2 2.
| c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 286 As chekenes crepyn vndyr þe dame wyng. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) xxx. 302 Þei putten forth anon the ȝonge foles and maken hem to nyȝen after hire dames. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. xxi. 100 This she asse is the dame of the fole. 1598 Yong Diana 219 Despoyling the harmlesse Nightingale of her deerest pretie ones, and the sorrowfull Dame fluttering vp and downe ouer their heads. 1709 Blair in Phil. Trans. XXVII. 63 They quit their Dame at 6 Months. |
IV. † 9. The queen at chess. [= F. dame.] Obs. rare.
| 1574 Hellowes Gueuara's Fam. Ep. (1584) 231 Somtimes we were wont to play at the chesse..and [I] cannot advise me that you gave me the dame. |
V. 10. Comb., as dame-errant (nonce-wd. after knight-errant); dame-school (also dame's school), an elementary school for children kept by a dame.
| 1852 C. M. Yonge Cameos (1877) II. xxxiii. 338 Henry received her with the courtesy due to a distressed *dame-errant. |
| 1821 M. Edgeworth Sequel to Rosamond II. 65 The name of this ‘tiny play’..‘The *Dame-school Holiday.’ 1876 Grant Burgh Sch. Scotl. ii. xvi. 527 Dame schools..have..ceased to exist in Scotland. |
| a 1817 Jane Austen Generous Curate in Volume the First (1954) 73 A twopenny *Dame's School in the village. |
▪ II. dame
obs. f. dam n.1 and n.4, and damn.