n. (pl. -ies)
1. a a woman regarded as being of superior social status or as having the refined manners associated with this (cf. GENTLEMAN). b (Lady) a title used by peeresses, female relatives of peers, the wives and widows of knights, etc.
2 (often attrib.) a woman; a female person or animal (ask that lady over there; lady butcher; lady dog).
3 colloq. a a wife. b a man's girlfriend.
4 a ruling woman (lady of the house; lady of the manor).
5 (in pl. as a form of address) a female audience or the female part of an audience.
6 hist. a woman to whom a man, esp. a knight, is chivalrously devoted; a mistress.
Phrases and idioms:
find the lady three-card trick. the Ladies (or Ladies') Brit. a women's public lavatory. ladies' chain a figure in a quadrille etc. ladies' fingers OKRA (cf. lady's finger). Ladies' Gallery a public gallery in the House of Commons, reserved for women. ladies' (or lady's) man a man fond of female company; a seducer. ladies' night a function at a men's club etc. to which women are invited. ladies' room a women's lavatory in a hotel, office, etc. Lady altar the altar in a Lady chapel. Lady Bountiful a patronizingly generous lady of the manor etc. (a character in Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem). Lady chapel a chapel in a large church or cathedral, usu. to the E. of the high altar, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Lady Day the Feast of the Annunciation, 25 Mar. lady-fern a slender fern, Athyrium filix-femina. lady-in-waiting a lady attending a queen or princess. lady-killer a practised and habitual seducer. lady-love a man's sweetheart. Lady Mayoress the wife of a Lord Mayor. Lady Muck sl. derog. a socially pretentious woman. lady of the bedchamber lady-in-waiting. lady of easy virtue a sexually promiscuous woman; a prostitute. lady's bedstraw a yellow-flowered herbaceous plant, Galium verum. lady's companion a roll containing cottons etc. lady's finger
1. kidney vetch.
2 LADYFINGER (cf. ladies' fingers). lady's maid a lady's personal maidservant. lady's mantle any rosaceous plant of the genus Alchemilla with yellowish-green clustered flowers. lady-smock cuckoo flower 1. lady's slipper any orchidaceous plant of the genus Cypripedium, with a usu. yellow slipper-shaped lip on its flowers. lady's tresses any white-flowered orchid of the genus Spiranthes. Lady Superior the head of a convent or nunnery in certain orders. my lady a form of address used chiefly by servants etc. to holders of the title 'Lady'. my lady wife joc. my wife.
old lady colloq.
1. a mother.
2 a wife or mistress. Our Lady the Virgin Mary.
Derivatives:
ladyhood n.
Etymology: OE hl{aelig}fdige f. hlaf LOAF(1) + (unrecorded) dig- knead, rel. to DOUGH): in Lady Day etc. f. OE genit. hl{aelig}fdigan (Our) Lady's