dame
/deɪm/noun, verb
dame is spelled D-A-M-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 9.1 times per million words in written English, the 7,553rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, dame means “Usually capitalized as Dame: a title equivalent to Sir for a female knight” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of dame is dames.
How many letters and syllables are in dame?
| Letters | 4: D-A-M-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 9.1 times per million words; the 7,553rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is dame?
Dame appears 9.1 times per million words in written English, the 7,553rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce dame?
- US /deɪm/
Dame has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-dame.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with dame?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as dame from its last stressed vowel (/eɪm/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: made, mead.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of dame
- dames plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- daming participle, present
- damed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does dame mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
UKUsually capitalized as Dame: a title equivalent to Sir for a female knight.
Dame Edith Sitwell
- 2
UKA matron at a school, especially Eton College.
- 3
UKIn traditional pantomime: a melodramatic female often played by a man in drag.
- 4
USdatedinformalA woman.
- 5
archaicA lady, a woman.
- 6
The hereditary feudal ruler (seigneur) of Sark, when the title is held by a woman in her own right.
- 7
slangA queen.
verb
- 1
To make a dame.
noun
- 1
UKThe titular prefix given to a female knight
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Dame in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense title equivalent to Sir for a female knight:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | dama |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does dame come from?
From Middle English dame, dam (“noble lady”), from Old French dame (“lady; term of address for a woman; the queen in card games and chess”), from Latin domina (“mistress of the house”), feminine form of dominus (“lord, master, ruler; owner of a residence”), or from Latin domus (“home, house”). Doublet of domina and donna.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).