lady

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”) + dīġe (“kneader”), related to Old English dǣġe (“maker of dough”) (whence dey (“dairymaid”)). Compare also lord. More at loaf, dairy, dough. Unrelated to lad.

noun

1. (historical) The mistress of a household.
2. A woman of breeding or higher class, a woman of authority.
   "I would like the dining room to be fully set by tonight; would you do so?" "Yes, my lady".
   ‘[…] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”. […]’. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess
3. The feminine of lord.
   ’T was the proudest hall in the North Countree, And never its gates might opened be, Save to lord or lady of high decree[…] 1848, James Russell Lowell, The Vision of Sir Launfaul, 6th edition, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, published 1858
4. A title for someone married to a lord or gentleman.
5. A title that can be used instead of the formal terms of marchioness, countess, viscountess, or baroness.
6. (polite or used by children) A woman: an adult female human.
   Please direct this lady to the soft furnishings department.
7. (in the plural) A polite reference or form of address to women.
   Ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to be here today. Follow me, ladies!
8. (slang) Used to address a female.
   Hey, lady, move your car!
   Hey, ladies, how are you doing?
9. (ladies' or ladies) Toilets intended for use by women.
10. (informal) A wife or girlfriend; a sweetheart.
11. A woman to whom the particular homage of a knight was paid; a woman to whom one is devoted or bound.
    The ſoldier here his waſted ſtore ſupplies, And takes new valor from the Ladies’ eyes. 1666, Edmund Waller, “Instructions to a Painter”, in The Works of Edmund Walker, Dublin: W. G. Jones, published 1768, page 154
12. (slang) A queen (the playing card).
13. (attributive, with a professional title) Who is a woman.
    A lady doctor.
    The recent disclosures caused one headmistress of a city college to arrange for sex instructions to be given by a lady doctor to various forms. 1964, James Holledge, Sex and the Australian Teenager, Melbounre: Horwitz Publications, page 15
14. (Wicca) Alternative form of Lady.
15. (archaic) gastric mill, the triturating apparatus in the stomach of a lobster, consisting of calcareous plates; so called from a fancied resemblance to a seated female figure.
16. (UK, slang) A five-pound note. (Rhyming slang, Lady Godiva for fiver.)
17. (slang, chiefly in the plural) A woman’s breast.
18. (chess, slang, rare) A queen.

verb

1. To address as “lady”.
   “[…]When I am dead ye’ll mind I said it, my leddy.” “Ah, Elspeth, but do not lady me; say Christine, just wee Christine.[…]” 1897, Macmillan’s Magazine, page 13, column 1
   “I thought you would never come, Lady Mary,” and he kissed her again. “Why will you persist in ladying me? Have I not told you—stop, now, will you?” and she pushed his mouth away. “Have I not told you as many times as you have seen me to call me Mary only?” 1906, Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine: A Popular Journal of General Literature, page 374
   I see Bey still continues jealous of poor Mou; does she still go by that name? In Greek it means “my” and her Paramanas always called her Lady Mary Mou, so we called her Mou. I hope you admire my teaching you Greek. I beg you will break Bruce of ladying her, if it should grow up with him it would be detestable. 1928, The Letters of Mary Nisbet of Dirleton, Countess of Elgin, New York, N.Y.: D Appleton and Company, page 276
   ‘Then, Lady Placida, there is something I wish to ask of you.’ ‘Only,’ she said sternly, ‘if you stop Ladying me. I have a name, dear.’ 2006, Jim Butcher, Cursor’s Fury: Book Three of the Codex Alera, New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, page 658
   “Lady!” “No, do not ‘lady’ me!” Margaret admonished. 2013, Brenda Joyce, A Rose in the Storm, Harlequin, page 130
   “How can I help, my lady?” “Stop the ladying.[…]” 2018, Skye MacKinnon, Winter Princess (Daughter of Winter, Book Two), Peryton Press