lady

Where “lady” sits in English frequency

Definition

1. 1
   The mistress of a household.
2. 2
   A woman of breeding or higher class, a woman of authority.
3. 3
   The feminine of lord, a lordess.
4. 4
   A title for someone married to a lord or gentleman.
5. 5
   A title that can be used instead of the formal terms of marchioness, countess, viscountess, or baroness.
6. 6
   A woman: an adult female human.
7. 7
   A polite reference or form of address to women.
8. 8
   Used to address a female.
9. 9
   A wife or girlfriend; a sweetheart.
10. 10
    A woman to whom the particular homage of a knight was paid; a woman to whom one is devoted or bound.
11. 11
    A queen (the playing card).
12. 12
    Who is a woman.
13. 13
    Alternative form of Lady.
14. 14
    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.
15. 15
    A five-pound note. (Rhyming slang, Lady Godiva for fiver.)
16. 16
    A woman’s breast.
17. 17
    A queen.

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.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aldy,laddy,ladyy,layd,lday,llady

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lady - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Frequently Asked Questions