Madonna
(məˈdɒnə)
Also 7 Maddona, 6–9 madona.
[a. It. madonna, orig. two words (ma OIt. unstressed form of mia fem., my; donna = F. dame:—L. domina lady) corresponding to F. ma dame: see madam.]
‖ 1. a. As an Italian form of address or title: My lady, madam. Obs.
| 1584 R. W. Three Ladies Lond. i. B ij b, Merca. Madona, me be a Merchant and be cald senior Merkadorus. 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse 20 b, They drawe out a dinner with sallets,..& make Madona Nature their best Caterer. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 72 Good Madona, why mournst thou? a 1626 Middleton More Dissemblers v. i. (1657) 67 Crotch. (Here they sing Prick-song) How like you this Madona? Celia. Pretty. 1632 Massinger Maid of Hon. v. ii, Gracious Maddona, Noble Generall, Brave Captaines, and my quondam rivalls, wear 'em. 1827 Macaulay Song Misc. Writ. (1860) II. 417 Oh stay, Madonna! stay. |
† b. An Italian lady.
Obs.| 1602 Middleton Blurt ii. ii. C 2 b, Hip. Well Sir, you know..the flea-bitten fac'd Ladie. Doit. Oh Sir, the freckle cheeke Madona, I know her Signior, as well— Hip. Not as I doe, I hope Sir. a 1625 Fletcher Fair Maid of Inn iii. i, A dancer..that by teaching great Madonnas to foot it, has miraculously purchast a ribanded wastcote. 1639 Shirley Gent. Ven. v. ii. (1655) 64 De'e think to mount Madonas here, and not Pay for the sweet Carreere. |
2. a. An Italian designation of the Virgin Mary; usually with
the;
occas. used vocatively.
b. A picture or statue (
esp. Italian) of the Virgin Mary.
| 1644 Evelyn Diary (1879) I. 122 A faire Madona of Pietro Perugino, painted on the wall. 1645 Ibid. I. 203 The miraculous shrine of the Madona w{supc}{suph} Pope Paul III. brought barefooted to the place. 1717 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Abbé Conti 29 May, They shewed me..a picture of the Virgin Mary, drawn by the hand of St. Luke,..the finest Madonna of Italy is not more famous for her miracles. 1816 Byron Siege Cor. xxx, Madonna's face upon him shone, Painted in heavenly hues above. 1825–9 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor V. xxxii. 338 A beautiful madonna in white marble which I had seen in a church in Rome. 1833 Tennyson Mariana in South 22 ‘Ave Mary’ was her moan, ‘Madonna, sad is night and morn’. 1849 James Woodman ii, A very early painting of the Madonna and Child. 1853 Froude Eng. Forgotten Worthies Short Stud. (ed. 2) 305 Whose pretences to religion might rank with the devotion of an Italian bandit to the Madonna. 1855 Browning One Word More ii, Rafael made a century of sonnets,..Else he only used to draw Madonnas. |
3. A mode of dressing a woman's hair, with the parting down the middle, and the hair arranged smoothly on each side. (
Cf. 4.)
| a 1839 T. H. Bayly Songs & Ball. I. 139 I've tried all styles of hair dressing, Madonnas, frizzes, crops. |
4. attrib. and
Comb. (
esp. with reference to pictures of the Madonna and the mode of dressing the hair), as
Madonna braid,
Madonna coiffure,
Madonna face,
Madonna front,
Madonna lid,
Madonna style;
Madonna-like adj.;
Madonna-wise adv.;
Madonna blue, a shade of deep blue;
Madonna-braided a., (of the hair) arranged in smooth braids on each side of the face, after the manner of Italian representations of the Madonna;
Madonna lily, the White Lily,
Lilium candidum, often represented with the Madonna in pictures.
| [1930 Maerz & Paul Dict. Color 198/2, 1917 Madonna.] 1932 A. Christie Peril at End House vii. 85 She was wearing a gown of *Madonna blue. 1935 Times 2 Oct. 17/4 A Madonna-blue lining. 1971 N. Freeling Over High Side ii. 110 Twilight had fallen, of a pure madonna blue. |
| 1829 Souvenir II. 317/2 (Stanf.) The hair is beautifully arranged in a *Madonna braid in front. |
| 1849 Aytoun Poems, Buried Flower 83 Raven locks, *Madonna-braided O'er her sweet and blushing face. |
| 1890 Pall Mall G. 26 Nov. 1/3 Her fair hair..is simply parted in the centre, in the way which is now often playfully called the ‘*madonna coiffure’. |
| 1790 Hel. M. Williams Julia I. i. 3 She had a *madona face. |
| 1849 Thackeray Pendennis I. xvi. 143 She returned a rather elderly character with a *Madonna front and a melancholy countenance. |
| 1863 Woolner My Beautiful Lady 95 O wan girl-mother with *Madonna lids Downcast. |
| 1850 Mrs. Gaskell Let. 24 Jan. (1966) 101 She was a *madonna-like person with a face..full of thought and gentle love. 1895 G. B. Shaw Let. 20 Mar. (1965) 502 You must..be sweet..and Madonna like. 1909 M. Diver Candles in Wind i. iv. 40 The soft brown hair..giving a Madonna-like air of purity to the oval face. 1966 ‘R. Standish’ Widow Hack vi. 65 She has large, generous features which compose themselves in a Madonna-like serenity. |
| 1877 E. S. Phelps Story of Avis ix. 172 An exquisite motion which an artist..would not have wasted..on anything less than a *Madonna lily. 1900 Field 23 June 903/3 The Madonna lily (Lilium candidum). 1902 Daily Chron. 1 Apr. 2/1 Large branches of Madonna lilies. 1963 W. Blunt Of Flowers & Village 173 My whole room is scented by a great pot of Madonna lilies. 1974 Country Life 21 Mar. 632/1 A child in a bonnet creeps shyly down the path, dwarfed by the Madonna lilies. |
| 1818 La Belle Assemblée XVII. 86 The hair is worn more in the *Madona style. |
| 1830 Tennyson Isabel i., Locks not wide-dispread, *Madonna-wise on either side her head. |
Hence
Maˈdonnahood, the character or quality of a Madonna.
Maˈdonnaish a., like a Madonna.
| 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. ix. iv. 236 Brown gleams of gipsy Madonnahood from Murillo. 1891 Athenæum 24 Oct. 547/1 She is too Madonnaish in one way, too languishing and sentimental in another. |