LADY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

• LADY (noun)
  The noun LADY has 3 senses:

1. a polite name for any woman

2. a woman of refinement

3. a woman of the peerage in Britain

  Familiarity information: LADY used as a noun is uncommon.

• LADY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A polite name for any woman

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

a nice lady at the library helped me

Hypernyms ("lady" is a kind of...):

adult female; woman (an adult female person (as opposed to a man))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lady"):

begum (a Muslim woman of high rank in India or Pakistan)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A woman of refinement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

dame; gentlewoman; lady; ma'am; madam

Context example:

a chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady

Hypernyms ("lady" is a kind of...):

adult female; woman (an adult female person (as opposed to a man))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "lady"):

grande dame (a middle-aged or elderly woman who is stylish and highly respected)

madame (title used for a married Frenchwoman)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A woman of the peerage in Britain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

Lady; noblewoman; peeress

Hypernyms ("Lady" is a kind of...):

female aristocrat (a woman who is an aristocrat)

Domain region:

Britain; Great Britain; U.K.; UK; United Kingdom; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (a monarchy in northwestern Europe occupying most of the British Isles; divided into England and Scotland and Wales and Northern Ireland; 'Great Britain' is often used loosely to refer to the United Kingdom)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Lady"):

baroness (a noblewoman who holds the rank of baron or who is the wife or widow of a baron)

countess (female equivalent of a count or earl)

duchess (the wife of a duke or a woman holding ducal title in her own right)

lady-in-waiting (a lady appointed to attend to a queen or princess)

marchioness; marquise (a noblewoman ranking below a duchess and above a countess)

Milady (an English noblewoman)

Instance hyponyms:

Borgia; Duchess of Ferrara; Lucrezia Borgia (Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts (1480-1519))

Godiva; Lady Godiva (according to legend she rode naked through Coventry in order to persuade her husband not to tax the townspeople so heavily; the only person to look at her as she rode by was a man named Tom and Peeping Tom has become a synonym for voyeur (circa 1040-1080))

Amy Lyon; Hamilton; Lady Emma Hamilton (English beauty who was the mistress of Admiral Nelson (1765-1815))

Holonyms ("Lady" is a member of...):

baronage; peerage (the peers of a kingdom considered as a group)

Antonym:

Lord (a titled peer of the realm)

 Context examples 

It is not always so with young ladies.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“But we’ll make sailors out of them, or boat-pullers at any rate. Now, what of the lady?”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

She went into service early, and while yet a young woman, by rule-of-thumb progression, she became a lady's maid.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Now it was clear to me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious to her than what we are in quest of.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The good lady next door says he is studying too hard and needs young society, amusement, and exercise.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“You would like to be a lady?” I said.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The young lady blushed and laughed.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A distant bell tinkled: immediately three ladies entered the room, each walked to a table and took her seat.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Lady Russell was most anxiously zealous on the subject, and gave it much serious consideration.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

She was a bright, vivacious, dark-eyed lady, more French than English in her type.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)