madam

Etymology

From Middle English madame, from Old French madame, from ma (“my”) + dame (“lady”), from post-classical Latin mea domina. Doublet of Madonna.

noun

1. 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”.
   Later, Mrs Grey was sitting in her favourite tea shop. “Would madam like the usual cream cakes and patisserie with her tea?” the waitress asked.
   Nothing, madam, but a tumbler of wine with a little water—thank you, madam. Mesdames, great events have occurred since I left you. 1857, Charles Reade, White Lies. A Story., volume I, London: Trübner & Co.,[…], page 276
   I leaned on the hoe, in classic pose, and watched the cowbird try to bust his buttons in that agonizing split whistle which is his serenade to the madam. Perhaps I should say to the mesdames, for this fellow is the Don Juan of the feathered world, with no moral standards and a distinct aversion to anything that resembles domestic ties. 1951 April, John H. Day, “The Breath of April”, in Pennsylvania Game News, volume XXII, number 1, Pennsylvania Game Commission, page 27, column 1
   “[…] This size, madam!” Certainly, the mesdames would not have been interested. 1987, Navasilu, page 81
   After two years, Madam X was busy enough to take on a partner: Madam Z, aged twenty. Both regularly scouted new marks and told Stead that ‘nurse girls’ (nannies) were the best: ‘there are any number in [the parks] every morning and all are virgins’. Selling maidenhoods was their speciality. ‘Our gentlemen want maids,’ they said, ‘not damaged articles.’ ‘Come,’ he said to the mesdames, ‘what do you say to delivering me five [girls] on Saturday next? . . . Could you deliver me a parcel of maids, for me to distribute among my friends?’ Within a fortnight, the Mesdames had supplied Stead with seven girls between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. 2012, Bridget O’Donnell, Inspector Minahan Makes a Stand: The Missing Girls of England, Picador
2. The mistress of a household.
3. (colloquial) 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.
4. (slang) 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.
5. (India, derogatory slang) A hated or contemptous woman. (used as a general term of abuse).

verb

1. (transitive) To address as "madam".
   He bowed to me, he madamed me, he was throughout as gentlemanlike and respectful as I had ever found him when we met at Old Harbour House or in Old Harbour Town. 1905, William Clark Russell, The Yarn of Old Harbour Town, page 208
   "I don't care," she said. "They'll be dead in a few minutes if you'll just do your job. Stop madaming me and get to work." 1988, Gahan Wilson, Eddy Deco's Last Caper, page 123