Forms: 1 hlǽfdíʓe, hlǽfdí, hlǽf-, hléfdiʓe, Northumb. hláfdía, Mercian hláfdíe, 2–4 lefdi, 3 læfdi, lævedi, lef(e)di(e, lafvedi, leafdi, leivedi, leofdi, levede, Orm. laffdiʓ, 3–4 lavedi, levedi, -y, 4 laidi, -y, lavede, laydy, ledy, lefdye, levdi, -y, levedie, levidi, lhevedi, -y, livedi, 4–5 lavedy, lefdy, lede, 4–7 ladi(e, -ye, (pl. ladise), 6, 9 Sc. leddy, 9 arch. ladye, 4– lady. [OE. hlǽfdíʓe wk. fem.; f. hláf bread, LOAF + root dĭg- to knead: see DOUGH.
Like the corresponding masc. designation hláford, LORD, the word is not found outside Eng. (the Icel. lafði is adopted from ME.). The etym. above stated is not very plausible with regard to sense; but the attempts to explain hlǽfdíʓe as a deriv. of hláford are unsatisfactory: the fem. suffix in OE. is -icʓe, not -iʓe, and the umlaut in the first syllable is difficult to explain on this supposition.
The OE. ǽ, being regularly shortened in ME. before two consonants, yielded regularly ă and ĕ according to dialect. The ME. lĕfdi, lĕvdi, is represented by Sc. leddy. The other forms lăfdi (= *lavdi) became lăvedi (3 syllables), and by regular development lăvedi; afterwards the e became silent and the v was dropped; hence the mod.Eng. form.
The genitive sing. (OE. hlǽfdíʓan) became by regular phonetic change in ME. coincident in form with the nom.; hence certain syntactical combs. have the appearance of proper compounds, as lady-bird, Lady-day, Lady-chapel.]
I. As a designation for a woman.
† 1. A mistress in relation to servants or slaves; the female head of a household. Obs.
The 18th-c. instances in brackets seem to represent a redevelopment of this sense from sense 6 a.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter, cxxii[i]. 2. Swe swe eʓan menenes hondum hlafdian hire.
a. 1000. Laws of Penitents, ii. § 4, in Thorpe, Anc. Laws, II. 184. ʓif hwylc wif … hire wifman swingð & heo þurh þa swingle wyrð dead … fæste seo hlæfdiʓe .vii. ʓear.
a. 1100. Ags. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 310/26. Materfamilias, hiredes moder oððe hlæfdiʓe.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 4. Ant þeos riwle nis bute vorto serui þe oðer. Þe oðer is ase lefdi: þeos is ase þuften.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 967. Forð siðen ȝhe bi abram slep, Of hire leuedi nam ȝhe no kep.
1382. Wyclif, Ps. cxxii[i]. 2. As the eȝen of the hondmaide, in the hondis of hir ladi. Ibid., Prov. xxx. 23. Bi an hand womman, whan she were eir of hir ladi.
[1718. Freethinker, No. 17. 116. Her Maid … lisps out to me that her Lady is gone to Bed.
a. 1745. Swift, Direct. Servants, iii. (1745), 50. When you are sent on a Message, deliver it in your own Words … not in the Words of your Master or Lady.]
2. A woman who rules over subjects, or to whom obedience or feudal homage is due; the feminine designation corresponding to lord. Now poet. or rhetorical, exc. in lady of the manor. † In OE. used spec. (instead of cwén, QUEEN) as the title of the consort of the king of Wessex (afterwards of England).
a. 1000. O. E. Chron., an. 918. Her Æðelflæd forðferde Myrcena hlæfdiʓe.
1038–44. Charter of Ælfwine, in Kemble, Cod. Dipl., IV. 76. Eadweard cinge and Ælfʓyfu seo hlefdiʓe, and Eadsiʓe arcebisceop.
c. 1205. Lay., 6310. Bruttes nemnede þa laȝen æfter þar lafuedi.
1382. Wyclif, Isa. xlvii. 7. Thou agreggedist the ȝoc gretli, and seidest, In to euermor I shal ben a ladi.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), IV. 129. Þe laste lady of Cartage hadde riȝt suche a manere ende as Dydo þe firste lady hadde.
c. 1450. Merlin, 362. ‘And also,’ quod she, ‘I am lady of the reame cleped the londe susteyne.’
1481. Caxton, Myrr., II. ii. 65. Asia the grete … taketh the name of a quene that somtyme was lady of this regyon and was callid Asia.
1562. Winȝet, Cert. Tractates, i. Wks. 1888, I. 10. We suspect nocht zoure gentle humanitie,… to be offendit with vs zour pure anis, bot our Souerane Ladyis fre liegis.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. Introd. 4. Great Ladie of the greatest Isle.
c. 1630. Risdon, Surv. Devon, § 43 (1810), 50. Beatrix de Vallibus was lady of this land.
1633. Milton, Arcades, 105. Bring your Flocks, and live with us, Here ye shall have greater grace, To serve the Lady of this place.
1711. Act 9 Anne, in Lond. Gaz., No. 4870/1. Any Lord or Lady of a Manor might appoint several Game-keepers.
1832. Tennyson, Dream Fair Wom., 97. No marvel, sovereign lady: in fair field Myself for such a face had boldly died.
† b. transf. and fig. Obs.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 176. Þet fleschs wolde awiligen & bicomen to ful itowen touward hire lefdi, ȝif hit nere ibeaten.
1382. Wyclif, Isa. xlvii. 5. Thou shalt no more be clepid the ladi of reumes [1611 the Ladie of kingdomes].
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Auspex, Musa auspice … the ladie of learnyng beyng our guide.
1587. Golding, De Mornay, xvi. 265. This Spirit of ours … was free of it selfe, and Ladie of the bodie, and therefore could not receyue her first corruption from the bodie.
1591. Sparry, trans. Cattan’s Geomancie, B 2 b. By the influence of the Sunne she [the Eagle] hath a marueilous property, which is, to be Lady of all other birdes.
1601. R. Johnson, Kingd. & Commw. (1603), 107. Rome, once the Lady of the world.
a. 1610. Healey, Epictetus (1636), 79. Beware that thou hurt not thy minde, the Lady of thy workes, and thine actions governesse.
c. A woman who is the object of chivalrous devotion; a mistress, ‘lady-love.’
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, I. 811. Many a man hath love ful dere y-bought, Twenty winter that his lady wiste, That never yet his lady mouth he kiste.
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., XVIII. (Percy Soc.), 83. You are my lady, you are my masteres, Whome I shall serve with all my gentylnes.
a. 1547. Surrey, in Tottel’s Misc. (Arb.), 20. A praise of his loue: wherein he reproueth them that compare their Ladies with his.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., V. ii. 436. What did you whisper in your Ladies eare?
1633. T. James, Voy., 71. This euening being May euen; we … chose Ladies, and did ceremoniously weare their names in our Caps.
1867. Tennyson, Window, 120. Never a line from my lady yet! Is it ay or no?
a. 1881. Rossetti, House of Life, viii. My lady only loves the heart of Love.
3. spec. The Virgin Mary. (Usually Our Lady = L. Domina Nostra, and equivalents in all mod. European langs.) † Our Lady’s bands: pregnancy.
a. 900. Cynewulf, Crist, 284. Cristes þeʓnas cweþað ond singað þæt þu sie hlæfdiʓe halʓum meahtum wuldorweorudes.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 17. He wes iboren of ure lefdi Zeinte Marie.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 161. Maidene maide and heuene quen and englene lafdi.
c. 1200. Ormin, 2127. Ure deore laffdiȝ wass Þurrh Drihhten nemmnedd Marȝe.
c. 1325. Metr. Hom., 160. Ilke day deuotely Herd scho messe of our Lefdye.
c. 1410. Love, Bonavent. Mirr., ii. 28 (Gibbs MS.). Þan come þei forþermore to þe house of oure lady cosyn Elizabeth.
1513. More, in Grafton, Chron. (1568), II. 761. By Gods blessed Ladie (that was euer his othe).
1553. Becon, Reliques of Rome (1563), 233*. Ye shall also praye … for the women that bene in our Ladyes bandes and with childe.
a. 1555. Articles imputed to Latimer, in Foxe, A. & M. (1563), 1309/2. No doubt our lady was, through the goodnes of God, a good & a gratious creature.
1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. v. 63. O Gods Lady deare, Are yow so hot? marrie come vp I trow.
1797. Mrs. Radcliffe, Italian, xi. On the morning of our high festival, our Lady’s day, it is usual for such as devote themselves to heaven to receive the veil.
1832. Tennyson, Mariana, iii. Low on her knees herself she cast, Before Our Lady murmur’d she.
† b. Our, the Lady in March, or Lent: the Annunciation, March 25. Our Lady in Harvest: the Assumption, Aug. 15. Our Lady in December: the Conception, Dec. 8. (See LADY-DAY.)
c. 1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 9080. Vr leuedy [v.rr. leuedi dai, lefdi day] in decembre.
c. 1483. Caxton, Dialogues (E.E.T.S.), 28/21. Our ladye in marche. Ibid., 28/23. Our lady in heruest.
1608. Acc. Bk. W. Wray, in Antiquary, XXXII. 213. A great frost from Martinmas till almost ye Lady in lent.
† c. An image of the Virgin Mary. Obs.
1563. Homilies, II. Agst. Idolatry, III. (1859), 225. Christophers, Ladies, and Mary Magdalenes, and other Saints.
1606. Arraignmn. late Traitors, D 1 b. Their [Papists’] kissing of babies, their kneeling to wodden Ladies.
4. A woman of superior position in society, or to whom such a position is conventionally or by courtesy attributed. Originally, the word connoted a degree equal to that expressed by lord; but it was (like its synonyms in all European langs.) early widened in application, while the corresponding masc. term retained its restricted comprehension. In mod. use lady is the recognized fem. analogue of gentleman, and is applied to all women above a loosely defined and variable, but usually not very elevated standard of social position. Often used (esp. in ‘this lady’) as a more courteous synonym for ‘woman,’ without reference to the status of the person spoken of. See also FINE LADY, YOUNG LADY.
As the traditional association of lady with lord still survives, the former is a title of ostensibly higher dignity than gentleman. Hence, and not directly as the result of the sentiment of gallantry, the customary order of words in ‘ladies and gentlemen.’
c. 1205. Lay., 24715. Alle þa lafdies leoneden ȝeond walles to bihalden þa duȝoðen.
c. 1230. Hali Meid., 9. Aske þes cwenes, þes riche cuntasses, þes modie lafdis.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 3280. Mony was þe vayre leuedi þat icome was þer to.
1340. Ayenb., 213. Þe greate lhordes and þe greate lheuedyes.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 2968. Whan þat loveli ladi hade listened his wordes … for ioye sche wept.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XVIII. 335. Ylyke a lusarde with a lady visage.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Knt.’s T., 898. A companye of ladies … clad in clothes blake.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, F vj. A Beuy of Ladies.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 268. Labouryng & seruyng for these two ladyes, Lya & Rachel.
c. 1560. A. Scott, Poems (S. T. S.), vi. 27. A lord to lufe a silly lass, A leddy als, for luf, to tak Ane propir page.
1588. Shaks., L. L. L., II. i. 192. What Lady is that same?
1589. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, III. xxiv. (Arb.), 296. For Ladies and women to weepe … it is nothing vncomely.
1611. Beaum. & Fl., Knt. Burn. Pestle, III. iv. To punish all the sad enormities Thou hast committed against ladies gent.
1664. Evelyn, Kal. Hort., in Sylva, etc. (1729), 190. Keep your Wall and Palisade-Trees … sharp’d like a Lady’s Fan.
1674. Dryden, Epil. Misc. (1685), 289. A Country Lip may have the Velvet touch, Tho’ She’s no Lady, you may think her such.
1702. Addison, Dial. Medals, i. Wks. 1721, I. 438. We find too on Medals the representations of Ladies that have given occasion to whole volumes on the account only of a face.
1768–74. Tucker, Lt. Nat. (1834), I. 246. This is giving the ladies’ reason, ‘It is so because it is.’
1791. Cowper, Retired Cat, 38. Linen … such as merchants introduce From India, for the ladies’ use.
1807–8. W. Irving, Salmag., xviii. (1860), 414. It appears to be an established maxim … that a lady loses her dignity when she condescends to be useful.
1886. Miss Mulock, K. Arthur, i. 11. Poor lady!… But if she were a real lady she would never be an opera-singer.
1888. Harper’s Mag., Nov., 960/1. She was born, in our familiar phrase, a lady, and from the beginning, throughout a long life, she was surrounded with perfect ease of circumstance.
b. vocatively. (a) In the singular, now confined to poetic or rhetorical use. (b) In the plural, the ordinary term of oral address to a number of women, without reference to their rank; corresponding to ‘Madam’ in the singular.
The uneducated, esp. in London, still often use ‘Lady’ in the sing. as a term of address for ‘Madam’ or ‘Ma’am.’
c. 1384. Chaucer, H. Fame, III. 519. Lady, graunte us now good fame.
c. 1400. Sowdone Bab., 1889. Noe, certes, lady, it is not I.
1599. Shaks., Much Ado, II. i. 285. Pedr. Come Lady, come, you haue lost the heart of Signior Benedicke.
1634. Milton, Comus, 277. What chance, good Lady, hath bereft you thus? Ibid., 319. I can conduct you, Lady, to a low But loyal cottage.
1808. [see GENTLEMAN 4 b].
1819. Shelley, Cenci, V. ii. 172. Know you this paper, Lady?
† c. Lady errant: a humorous feminine analogue of ‘knight errant.’
a. 1643. Cartwright (title), The Lady Errant.
1655. Fuller, Ch. Hist., VI. vii. 364. Conscientious Catholicks conceived these Lady Errants so much to deviate from feminine modesty … that they zealously decried their practice.
d. Applied to fairies.
1628. Milton, Vacation Exerc., 60. At thy birth The Faiery Ladies daunc’t upon the hearth.
a. 1650. K. Arthur’s Death, 235, in Furnivall, Percy Folio, I. 506. He see a barge from the land goe, & hearde Ladyes houle & cry.
e. Phraseological expressions. Lady of the lake, (a) the designation of a personage in the Arthurian legends, Nimue or Vivien; † (b.) a nymph; † (c) a kept mistress. Lady of pleasure, a courtesan, whore. Lady of easy virtue, a woman whose chastity is easily assailable. Lady of the frying-pan, a jocular term for a cook. Lady of Babylon, of Rome, abusive terms for the Roman Catholic Church, with reference to the ‘scarlet woman’ of the Apocalypse. † Lady of hono(u)r, † lady of presence, a lady who holds the position of attendant to a queen or princess (cf. maid of hono(u)r); similarly lady of the bedchamber, lady-in-waiting.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, I. xxv. 73. What damoysel is that? said Arthur. That is the lady of the lake, said Merlyn.
1530. Palsgr., 237/1. Lady of presence, damoiselle dhonneur.
1536. Hen. VIII., Lett., 10 Jan., in Halliwell, Lett. Eng. Kings (1846), I. 352. At the interment [of Katharine of Arragon] it is requisite to have the presence of a good many ladies of honour.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., April, 120. They bene all Ladyes of the lake behight [E. K. Gloss, Ladyes of the lake be Nymphes].
1625. Massinger, New Way, II. i. Thou shalt dine … With me, and with a lady. Marrall. Lady? What lady? With the Lady of the Lake, or Queen of Fairies?
1631. High Commission Cases (Camden), 187. The Lady Willoughby … now one of the Ladyes of Honour attendant upon the Queene.
1637. Shirley (title), The Lady of Pleasure.
c. 1645. Howell, Lett. (1650), I. 447. He hath no such cloisters or houses for ladies of pleasure.
1678. Butler, Hud., III. i. 869. The difference Marriage makes ’Twixt Wives, and Ladies of the Lakes.
1708. Motteux, Rabelais (1737), V. 217. Kept-Wenches, Kind-hearted-Things, Ladies of Pleasure, by what … Names soever dignified.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Lady of easy virtue, a woman of the town, a prostitute.
1809. Malkin, Gil Blas, III. x. ¶ 4. The lady of the frying-pan … was assisted in her cookery by the coachman.
1809. [see EASY a. 12].
1858. Trollope, Barchester T., xx. 150. The ordeal through which he had gone, in resisting the blandishments of the lady of Rome. Ibid. (1860), Castle Richmond, I. v. 83. The pope, with his lady of Babylon, his college of cardinals [etc.].
1862. Mrs. H. Wood, Mrs. Hallib., II. xii. 205. Making the avowal as freely as though he had proclaimed that his mother was lady-in-waiting to the Queen.
5. A woman whose manners, habits and sentiments have the refinement characteristic of the higher ranks of society.
1861. Geo. Eliot, Silas M., I. xi. 185. She had the essential attributes of a lady—high veracity, delicate honour in her dealings, deference to others, and refined personal habits.
1880. C. E. Norton, Ch-building Mid. Ages, ii. 40. Her [Venice’s] gentlemen were the first in Europe, and the first modern ladies were Venetian.
6. As an honorific title.
a. A prefix forming part of the customary designation of a woman of rank. Also in My lady, an appellation used (chiefly by inferiors) in speaking to or of those who are designated by this prefix.
In the 15–16th c., The (or My) Lady was prefixed to the Christian name of a female member of the royal family, as ‘Princess’ is now. With regard to the use of the prefix in the titles of the nobility of the British Isles, usage has varied greatly at different times, but the following rules are now established: (1) In speaking of a marchioness, countess, viscountess or baroness (whether she be such in her own right, by marriage or by courtesy), the prefix Lady is a less formal substitute for the specific designation of rank, which is not used in conversational address: thus ‘the Marchioness (of) A.’ is spoken to, and informally spoken of, as ‘Lady A.’ (2) The daughters of dukes, marquises and earls have Lady (more formally, e.g., on a superscription, The Lady) prefixed to their Christian names. (3) The wife of the holder of a courtesy title in which Lord is prefixed to a Christian name is known as ‘(The) Lady John B.’ (4) The wife of a baronet or other knight (‘Sir John C.’) is commonly spoken of as ‘Lady C.,’ the strictly correct appellation ‘Dame Mary C.’ being confined to legal documents, sepulchral monuments, and the like.
c. 1489. Caxton, Blanchardyn, Ded. 1. Unto the right noble puyssant & excellent pryncesse, my redoubted lady, my lady Margarete, duchesse of Somercete.
1509. in Fisher’s Wks. (1876), 288. The moost excellent pryncesse my lady the kynges graundame.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 238 b. The Ladye Marques Dorset.
1555. Grimald, in Tottel’s Misc. (Arb.), 113. An Epitaph of the ladye Margaret Lee.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., I. ii. Stage direct., Enter the Coarse of Henrie the sixt … Lady Anne being the Mourner.
1599. Broughton’s Lett., vii. 21. Who selected him … to bee the Lady Margarets Reader.
a. 1674. Clarendon, Hist. Reb., XI. § 235. The general’s wife, the lady Fayrefax.
1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, Dram. Pers., Lord Touchwood,… Sir Paul Plyant … Knight … Lady Touchwood … Lady Plyant.
a. 1715. Burnet, Own Time, I. (1724), I. 19. Lady Margaret Dowglas was the child so provided for. Ibid., III. 353. The Lady Bellasis, the widow of the Lord Bellasis’s son.
1719. Prior (title), Verses spoken to Lady Henrietta Cavendish-Holles Harley, Countess of Oxford.
1766. Gentl. Mag., XXXVI. 103/1. Lady North,—of a son. Ibid. Lady Anne Conway, eldest daughter to the Earl of Hertford.
1833. Tennyson (title), Lady Clara Vere de Vere. Ibid. (1864), Aylmer’s F., 190. My lady’s Indian kinsman.
1870. Disraeli, Lothair, II. xiv. 148. Lothair danced with Lady Flora Falkirk, and her sister, Lady Grizell, was in the same quadrille.
b. Prefixed to the names of goddesses, allegorical personages, personifications, etc. Obs. or arch.
c. 1205. Lay., 1198. Leafdi Diana: leoue Diana heȝe Diana, help me to neode.
c. 1425. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 239. My lady Diane, the goddesse.
1508. Dunbar, Gold. Targe, 74. Thare saw I … The fresch Aurora, and lady Flora schene. Ibid., 210. A wofull prisonnere To lady Beautee.
1551. Robinson, trans. More’s Utop., II. (Arb.), 160. If that same worthye princesse lady money did not alone stop up the waye betwene vs and our lyuing.
1566. Drant, Horace’s Sat., I. iii. B vj. Thus graunte you must, that feare of wronge set ladye lawe in forte.
1597. J. Payne, Royal Exch., 20. [Those] that make so small accowmpt of religion and good lyfe, otherwyse then of there belly God and ladie pleasure.
a. 1625. Boys, Wks. (1629), 487. Ladie Venus dwels at the signe of the Iuie bush.
c. Prefixed to titles of honor or designations of dignified office, as an added mark of respect. Obs. or arch. Lady Mayoress: see MAYORESS.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Prioress’ Prol., 13. My lady Prioresse.
1530. Palsgr., 237/1. Lady maystres, dame dhonnevr; govuernante.
1613. Shaks., Hen. VIII., V. iii. 169. You shall haue two noble Partners with you: the old Duchesse of Norfolke, and Lady Marquess Dorset.
1638. Ford, Fancies, IV. ii. Are you not enthroned The lady-regent?
1710. Shaftesb., Adv. Author, III. ii. 167. The Method of expostulating with his Lady-Governess.
1721. Strype, Eccl. Mem., II. i. 3. The Lady Mary, the Kings daughter, appointed for the lady godmother.
1771. Smollett, Humph. Cl., 8 Aug. The lady-directress of the ball … had her conveyed to another room.
1820. Scott, Abbot, xii. ‘They call me Lady Abbess, or Mother at the least, who address me,’ said Dame Bridget.
d. Prefixed to designations of relationship, by way of respectful address or reference. (Cf. F. Madame votre mère, etc.) arch.
15[?]. Roberte the Deuyll, 522, in Hazlitt, E. P. P., I. 239. And when he sawe hys mother goynge, He sayde, alas, Lady mother, speake with me.
1528. More, Dial., III. xii. Wks. 227/2. But were I Pope. By my soule quod he, I would ye wer, & my lady your wife Popesse too.
1602. 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass., II. vi. 983. A Turkey Pye, or a piece of Venison, which my Lady Grand-mother sent me.
1628. Ford, Lover’s Mel., IV. ii. Your business with my lady-daughter toss-pot?
1655. Dryden (title), Lines in a Letter to his Lady Cousin Honor Driden.
1749. Fielding, Tom Jones, XV. v. Answer for yourself, lady cousin.
1805. Scott, Last Minstrel, VI. xxiii. But that my ladye-mother there Sits lonely in her castle-hall.
1820. W. Tooke, trans. Lucian, I. 730. As to your lady-bride, I envy not her beauty.
1855. Tennyson, Maud, I. iv. 15. I bow’d to his lady-sister as she rode by.
7. Wife, consort. Now, as in the original use, chiefly restricted to instances in which the formal title of ‘Lady’ is involved in the relationship. In the 18th and the former half of the 19th c. the wider use was prevalent in polite society, but is now regarded as vulgar, esp. in the phrase your good lady.
c. 1205. Lay., 2864. Swa þe king haihte, to wrðscipe his læfdi.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 517. Sire þere sall borne be a barne of þi blithe lady.
1483. Caxton, G. de la Tour, cxxxv. M v b. A grete lady, which was lady to a baron.
1613. Organ Specif. Worcester Cathedral, Sr Jo Packinton & his Lady.
1686. S. Sewall, Diary, 23 Sept. Gov. Bradstreet is gone with his lady to Salem.
a. 1715. Burnet, Own Time, II. (1724), I. 338. About the end of May, Duke Lauderdale came down with his Lady in great pomp.
1756–7. trans. Keysler’s Trav. (1760), IV. 7. The lady of a noble Venetian … is indulged with greater freedom in this respect.
1768. Sterne, Sent. Journ. (1775), II. 98. (Sword) The Marquis … supported his lady.
c. 1796. T. Twining, Trav. Amer. (1894), 87. She was granddaughter of Mrs. Washington, the President’s lady.
1796. Lamb, Lett. to Coleridge, Corr. & Wks. 1868, I. 11. It has endeared us more than any thing to your good lady.
1796. Jane Austen, Pride & Prej. (1833), 1. ‘My dear Mr. Bennet,’ said his lady to him one day, ‘have you heard’ [etc.]. Ibid., Sense & Sens. (1879), 1. By a former marriage, Mr. Dashwood had one son; by his present lady, three daughters.
1825. Waterton, Wand. S. Amer., IV. ii. 313. The unfortunate governor and his lady lost their lives.
1841. L’pool Mercury, 11 June, 195/4. On Thursday, the 3d instant, the lady of Thomas William Phillips, Esq. … of a daughter…. On Monday last, at Everton, the lady of Thomas Shaw, Esq., of a daughter.
1841. C. Anderson, Anc. Models, 101. An organ was lately given by the estimable lady of the Rev. J. B. Stonehouse, in the Isle of Axholme, to the church of Owston.
1845. Stephen, Comm. Laws Eng. (1874), II. 608. As where it [i.e., a peerage] is limited to a man and the heirs male of his body by Elizabeth, his present lady.
1860. O. W. Holmes, Elsie V., vii. (1861), 71. ‘How’s your health, Colonel Sprowle.’ ‘Very well, much obleeged to you. Hope you and your good lady are well.’
II. In transferred applications.
† 8. A queen at chess. Obs.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, xxii. 478. The duk rycharde … helde in his hande a lady of yvery, wherwyth he wolde have gyven a mate to yonnet.
9. A kind of butterfly; now painted lady.
1611. Florio, Papiglione, any kind of Ladie or butter-flie.
1846. Embleton, in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club, II. 171. Not a single specimen has been observed of the Peacock, Wood Lady, Wall Brown, or the Dark Green Aglaia.
1893. Earl Dunmore, Pamirs, I. 197. This ‘painted lady’ was the name by which a certain gaudy butterfly was known.
10. The calcareous structure in the stomach of a lobster, serving for the trituration of its food; fancifully supposed to resemble the outline of a seated female figure.
1704. Swift, Batt. Bks., Misc. (1711), 253. Like the Lady in a Lobster.
1796. J. Adams, Diary, 28 July, Wks. 1851, III. 421. To-day, at dinner, seeing lobsters at table, I inquired after the Lady, and Mrs. B. rose and went into the kitchen to her husband, who sent in the little lady herself, in the cradle in which she resides.
1804. Farley, Lond. Art Cookery (ed. 10), 47. Take out their bodies, and what is called the lady.
11. The smallest size of Welsh (and Cornish) roofing slates. (Cf. COUNTESS, DUCHESS.)
1803. Sporting Mag., XX. 109. He had delivered to the defendant eight thousand Countesses and eleven thousand Ladies.
1859. Gwilt, Archit., II. ii. (ed. 4), 501. Ladies are generally about 15 in. long, and about 8 in. wide.
1893. Brown, Opening Rly. to Delabole, xxiii. We’ve countess, duchess … doubles, ladies, slabs, and flags.
12. A female hound. (Cf. 14 b, and lady pack in 16.)
1861. Whyte-Melville, Mkt. Harb., x. 80. Nineteen couple are they of ladies, with the cleanest of heads and necks.
13. Naut. (See quots.)
1711. W. Sutherland, Shipbuild. Assist., 43. A Lady’s Hole, or Place for the Gunner’s small stores, which Stores are looked after by one they call a Lady, who is put in by turns to keep the Gun-room clean.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Lady of the Gun-room, a gunner’s mate, who takes charge of the after-scuttle, where gunners’ stores are kept.
III. In Combination.
14. appositively (quasi-adj.). a. Prefixed, with the sense ‘female,’ to designations of employment, office, function, etc., which are ordinarily applied to men, as in lady actor, citizen, clerk, critic, doctor, farmer, friend, guest, page, president, reader, singer, superintendent, tyrant, etc.
1684. Otway, Atheist, I. i. Wks. 1728, II. 29. The Lady-Tyrant of your Enchanted Castle.
a. 1687. Waller, Wks. (1729), 222. Prologue for the Lady-Actors.
1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, Epil. The Lady Criticks who are better Read, Enquire if Characters are nicely bred.
1775. Mad. D’Arblay, Early Diary (1889), II. 109. She has a fine voice, and has great merit, for a lady singer.
1784. R. Bage, Barham Downs, I. 9. Instead of hunting for … a wealthy widow, or a rich lady citizen, he retired to his country seat.
1818. Shelley, Rosalind & Helen, 91. Bring home with you That sweet strange lady-friend.
1826. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. II. (1863), 428. A good sort of lady-farmer.
1827. G. Darley, Sylvia, 110. Or any lady-page that soothes A steed whose neck she hardly smoothes.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., xxx. If our observant lady readers can deduce any satisfactory inferences from these facts, we beg them by all means to do so.
1848. Blackw. Mag., Aug., 186. Miss Martineau is lady-president of the gossip school.
1860. G. H. K., in Vac. Tour., 137. These hinds … are the lady-superintendents of an educational institution for young stags.
1890. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Col. Reformer (1891), 333. The entertainment of the first lady-guest ever seen at Rainbar.
1891. Argus (Melbourne), 7 Nov., 9/2. The ‘lady doctor’ has become an institution in Victoria.
1894. Daily News, 28 March, 3/2. To the lady clerks is allotted half the ledger keeping.
b. Used jocularly for ‘female’ with names of animals.
1820. Shelley, Œdipus, II. i. 157. Gentlemen swine, and gentle lady-pigs.
1832. W. Irving, Alhambra, II. 33. The very beetle woos its lady-beetle in the dust.
1887. G. R. Sims, Mary Jane’s Mem., 37. The dog … had five beautiful puppies afterwards, it being a lady-dog.
1894. G. R. O’Reilly, in Pop. Sci. Monthly, Nov., 77. One … night an old lady cobra surprised me by depositing a number of living young ones.
c. Prefixed to designations of employment usually associated with inferiority of social rank, to denote that the person is or claims to be regarded as a lady. Cf. lady-help (see 16 below).
1811. L. M. Hawkins, C’tess & Gertr., I. 94. Some lady-nurses … forego not an hour’s amusement.
1873. St. Paul’s Mag., II. 233. He, a dignified ecclesiastic butler, with a perfect palate for port, to be levelled with a pert little chit of a ‘lady-housekeeper.’
1898. Advt., in Westm. Gaz., 11 July, 2/3. Lady-Cook, also Lady-Parlourmaid wanted … lady-nurse and man kept.
15. Obvious combinations: a. attributive (pertaining to a lady or ladies), as lady-bower, -chamber; (characteristic of or befitting a lady), as lady-air, -fingers, -look, -slang, -trifle; (consisting of ladies), as lady portion, train, world. b. similative, as lady-clad, -faced, -handed, -looking, -soft adj. c. instrumental, as lady-laden adj.
a. 1637. B. Jonson, Underwoods, Eupheme, ix. She had a mind as calm as she was fair, Not lost or troubled with light *lady-air.
1741. Richardson, Pamela (1824), I. xv. 253. What, I say, had I to do, to take upon me lady-airs, and resent?
1832. J. Bree, St. Herbert’s Isle, 19. The burly thane … oft in *lady-bower would long remain.
1853. Merivale, Rom. Rep., xi. (1867), 323. This tender nursling of a patrician *lady-chamber was climbing mountains on foot.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, Prol. 119. But while they talk’d, above their heads I saw The feudal warrior *lady-clad.
c. 1610. Sir J. Melvil, Mem. (Bannatyne), 120. He wes very lusty, berdles, and *lady facit.
1831. Howitt, Seasons (1837), 317. Rose-wood desks, where *lady-fingers pen lady-lays.
1728. Ramsay, Archers diverting themselves, 28. The *lady-handed lad.
1887. Times (weekly ed.), 24 June, 4/4. Every balcony … was *‘lady-laden.’
1824. Miss Mitford, Village, Ser. I. (1863), 4. I have never seen any one in her station who possessed so thoroughly that undefinable charm, the *lady-look.
1834. H. Miller, Scenes & Leg., xx. (1857), 291. So *lady-looking a person, and an heiress to boot.
1866. Whittier, Marg. Smith’s Jrnl., Prose Wks. 1889, I. 11. His daughter, Rebecca, is just about my age, very tall and lady-looking.
1890. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Col. Reformer (1891), 165. He was astonished at the beauty and grace of the *lady portion of the guests.
1821. ‘P. Atall’ (title), The Hermit in Philadelphia, Second Series, containing some Account of Young Belles and Coquettes … Dandy-Slang and *Lady-Slang.
1607. Markham, Caval., II. (1617), 15. This Cauezan I haue seen very good hors-men vse, but with such a temperate and *Lady-soft a hand, that [etc.].
1717. E. Fenton, Poems, 111. The *Lady-Train dispers’d, the pensive Form Of Agamemnon came.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., V. ii. 165. I some *Lady trifles haue reseru’d Immoment toyes.
1775. Mad. D’Arblay, Early Diary, 22 Nov. Being herself a performer of reputation in the *lady world, she [etc.].
16. Special comb. in many cases orig. syntactical uses of lady genitive, in sense 3): Lady-altar, an altar in a Lady-chapel; lady-apple, a kind of small apple, with a red waxy-looking skin; valued chiefly for its ornamental appearance; also attrib.; Lady-bell (also Our Lady bell), a bell for ringing the Angelus; lady-bug dial. and U.S. = LADY-BIRD; lady-chair, a seat formed by the hands of two persons standing facing each other: each person grasping his own left wrist with his right hand, and the right wrist of the opposite person with his left hand, or vice versa; lady-clock = LADY-BIRD; lady-court, the court of a lady of a manor (in mod. Dicts.); lady-crab, a name given variously to certain species of crabs remarkable for elegance of coloring or form; (Our) Lady eve, even, the day before a Lady-day; lady-fluke (see quot.); lady-fly = LADY-BIRD; lady-fowl, a name for the smew or the widgeon; lady-help, a woman engaged to perform domestic service on the understanding that she is to be considered and treated by her employers as a lady; lady-killer humorous, a man who is credited with dangerous power of fascination over women; so lady-killing sb. and adj.; Lady-meat (also Lady’s meat), alms given in Our Lady’s honor arch.; lady-monger contemptuous, a ‘lady’s man’; lady-pack, a pack of female hounds; † lady-pear, some variety of pear; (Our) Lady-psalter, the ‘PSALTER of the Blessed Virgin Mary’; Lady-quarter, the quarter in which Lady-day occurs; Lady-tide, the time of the year about Lady-day; † lady-wit, an effeminate pretender to culture; Lady-worshipper, one who worships the Virgin Mary. Also LADY-BIRD, LADY-COW, etc.
1898. Weekly Reg., 16 July, 68. Mrs. Franks … presented a carved oak *lady-altar in memory of her late father.
1860. O. W. Holmes, Prof. Breakf.-t., iii. (Paterson), 50. Joe, with his cheeks like *lady-apples.
1876. T. Hardy, Ethelberta (1890), 24. The girl with the lady-apple cheeks.
1541. Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden), 8. For mendynge of the whele of our *Lady belle.
1872. Ellacombe, Bells of Ch., viii. in Ch. Bells Devon, 395. Six other bells from the rood tower, called the Lady Bells.
1787. Grose, Pop. Superstit., in Provinc. Gloss., etc. 64. It is held extremely unlucky to kill a cricket, a *lady-bug, a swallow [etc.].
1869. Mrs. Stowe, Oldtown Folks, xxvi. 298. Tina … insisted upon it that we should occasionally carry her in a *lady-chair over to this island.
1848. C. Brontë, Jane Eyre (1857), 255. That was only a *lady-clock, child, ‘flying away home.’
1894. Hall Caine, Manxman, 113. A lady-clock settled on her wrist.
1882. Cassell’s Nat. Hist., VI. 200. The Velvet Fiddler Crab … in the Channel Islands is known as the *Lady Crab, from its velvet coat.
1884. Stand. Nat. Hist. (1888), II. 63. Platyonichus ocellatus, lady crab.
1885. C. F. Holder, Marvels Anim. Life, 171. Their motions … resembling those of our common lady-crab.
1306. Pol. Songs (Camden), 219. This wes on oure *Levedy even.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 255. The Quene his wife was delivered of a daughter, on our lady Even before Christmas.
1603. Owen, Pembrokesh. (1891), 191. At vsuall feastes that ys the one on our ladie Eve in March, the other at Maye Eve.
1836. Yarrell, Brit. Fishes, II. 323. *Lady fluke. The Holibut, Hippoglossus vulgaris.
1724. Gay, Sheph. Week, Thursday 83. This *lady-fly I take from off the grass.
1821. Clare, Vill. Minstr., I. 209. Lady-fly with freckled wings, Watch her up the tall bent climb.
1772. Rutty, Nat. Hist. Dublin, I. 335. The *Lady-Fowl … is much esteemed in the London market … the Male being distinguished by the name of Easterling, and the female strictly called the Lady-fowl. Ibid., 336. The cock Lady-fowl is entirely distinct from the cock Widgeon.
1893. Newton, Dict. Birds, Lady-fowl, said to be a name of the Wigeon.
1875. Punch, 11 Sept., 98/1. In poor genteel families, *lady-helps could hardly expect any wages.
1881. Miss Braddon, One Thing Needful, ix. I suppose we must call this paragon of yours a lady-help.
1811. Ora & Juliet, II. 197. Upwards of twenty sat down at table, amongst whom was the *lady killer, or Colonel Sackville.
1884. Graphic, 4 Oct., 362/1. He had been a lady-killer in his day, and was by no means out of the hunt yet.
1825. C. M. Westmacott, Engl. Spy, I. 192. *Ladykilling coterie.
1837. Marryat, Dog-fiend, li. ‘Pretty lady-killing,’ muttered the sergeant.
1858. R. S. Surtees, Ask Mamma, i. 2. Nature had favoured Billy’s pretensions in the lady-killing way.
1849. Rock, Ch. of Fathers, III. ix. 284. Many an alms was given for Mary’s sake, and the food, so set aside, went by the name of *‘Lady-meat.’
1879. E. Waterton, Pietas Mariana, 115. Bread and meat given in our Ladye’s love were called Saint Marye’s loaf, and Ladymeat.
1597. 1st Pt. Return fr. Parnass., IV. i. 1236. This haberdasher of lyes, this bracchidochio, this *ladyemunger.
1678. Butler, Hud., III. i. 378. He serv’d two Prentiships and longer I’ th’ Myst’ry of a Lady-Monger.
1861. Whyte-Melville, Mkt. Harb., 10. He did not quite fancy making one of that crowd of irregular-horse who appear on a Wednesday at Crick or Misterton, to the unspeakable dismay of the Pytchley *lady pack.
1896. Westm. Gaz., 18 Dec., 4/1. Crossing the Swift brook the lady pack made play across the meadows beyond at a rare pace.
1664. Evelyn, Kal. Hort., in Sylva, etc. (1729), 223. Sugar-Pear, *Lady-Pear, Amadot, Ambret.
1380. Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 113. Te seie eche day our *Ladi sauter.
1547. Homilies, I. Good Wks., III. (1859), 61. Papistical superstitions and abuses … Lady Psalters and Rosaries.
1803. in Naval Chron., XV. 217. The men working in *Lady Quarter, 1802.
1888. Bill-heading a! Maidstone, *Ladytide.
1894. Athenæum, 17 March, 341/1. The practice of sending sheep to be kept in the Weald districts from Michaelmas to Ladytide is not wholly abandoned.
1647. H. More, Song of Soul, To Rdr. 6/1. Some *Lady-wits that can like nothing that is not as compos’d as their own hair, or as smooth as their Mistresses Looking-glasse.
1579. Tomson, Calvin’s Serm. Tim., 893/2. If God do make men that haue some deuotion, whiche are *Ladie worshippers [etc.].
b. In names of plants: lady-bracken, the brake, Pteris aquilina; lady-fern, an elegant fern, Athyrium Filix-femina; lady-key(s, (a) the primrose, Primula veris (Britten and Holland, Plant-n., 1879); (b) (see quot.); lady-lords (see quot.).
1820. Blackw. Mag., June, 278/1. Having removed the heather and decayed leafs of *lady-bracken which covered the inscription.
1825–80. Jamieson, Lady-bracken, the female fern.
1825. J. Wilson, Noct. Ambr., Wks. 1855, I. 73. Groves o’ the *ladyfern embowering the sleeping roe.
1859. Capern, Ball. & Songs, 137. A crown of lady-fern she wore.
1863. Kingsley, Water-Bab., 14. The great tuft of lady ferns.
1887. Kent. Gloss., *Lady-keys, same as Lady-lords. *Lady-lords, lords and ladies; the name given by children to the wild arum.
17. Specialized collocations with the genitive lady’s (occas. ladies’): lady’s companion, a small case or bag arranged to hold implements for needlework, etc.; ladies’ fair ? nonce-wd., a bazaar; ladies’ gallery, a gallery in the House of Commons reserved for ladies; lady’s gown, ‘a gift made by a purchaser to the vendor’s wife on her renouncing her life-rent in her husband’s estate’ (Cassell); lady’s hole, (a) Naut. (see quot.); (b) a card game (also my lady’s hole); lady’s hood Sc., the omentum of a pig; lady’s ladder, ‘shrouds rattled too closely’ (Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 1867); lady’s loaf = lady meat (sense 16); lady’s maid, a woman servant whose special duty it is to attend to the toilet of a lady; lady’s or ladies’ man, a man who is devoted to the society of women and is assiduous in paying them small attentions; ladies’ school, a school for the education of ‘young ladies’; lady’s wind Naut. (see quot.); † lady’s woman, (a) ? one who professes devotion to Our Lady; (b) a lady’s maid.
1844. Marg. Fuller, Wom. 19th C. (1862), 35. Governors of *ladies’ fairs are no less engrossed by such a charge, than the governor of a state by his.
1897. ‘Ouida,’ Massarenes, xvii. The speaker’s box … is much more comfortable than the *Lady’s Gallery.
1721. W. Sutherland, Shipbuild. Assist., 43. A *Lady’s Hole, or Place for the Gunner’s small Stores, which Stores are looked after by one they call a Lady.
1732. Mrs. Pendarves, Lett. to Mrs. A. Granville, in Mrs. Delany’s Life & Corr., 385. We got early into our inn, played at my lady’s hole, supped, and went early to bed.
1813. Sporting Mag., XLII. 273. From whist, that charms the noble’s soul, To kitchen putt and lady’s hole.
1826. J. Wilson, Noct. Ambr., Wks. 1855, I. 133. What black puddins!—and oh what tripe! Only think o’ the *leddy’s hood and monyplies!—Then the marrowbanes.
1875. T. E. Bridgett, Our Lady’s Dowry, 242. Alms, which naturally accompanied fasting, were also given in our Lady’s honour. Indeed this was so constant a practice, that it acquired a peculiar name as Lady’s meat or *Lady’s loaf.
1808. Ann. Reg., 71. Elizabeth Daniels, *lady’s maid, said Sir A. Paget always visited at the house.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, xxxix. The man who sang the song with the lady’s-maid.
1863. Miss Braddon, Eleanor’s Vict. (1878), I. iii. 23. The German governess and the Parisian lady’s-maid still attended upon Vane’s daughters.
1784. Cowper, Tiroc., 423. A slave at court, elsewhere a *lady’s man.
1809. Malkin, Gil Blas, VII. vii. (Rtldg.), 23. I should have chosen the youngest, and the most of a lady’s man.
1842. Thackeray, Fitz-Boodle Pap., Pref. (1887), 10. I am not … a ladies’ man.
1891. N. Gould, Double Event, 149. They told me you were not a ladies’ man, Mr. Smirke.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. iv. He had an order for another *Ladies’ School … door-plate.
1886. Kate Foote, in Century Mag., XXXII. 700/2. A gentle breeze blew from the shore toward them—a *‘lady’s wind,’ sailors would call it.
1579. Tomson, Calvin’s Serm. Tim., 885/2. Hee [St. Paul] saith not women but simple women, as if he said, these little *Ladies women [orig. ces petites bigotes], that woulde eat the crucifix (as we say) which make a shewe of great devotion.
1748. Smollett, Rod. Rand., xi. The deplorable vanity and secondhand airs of a lady’s woman.
b. In names of plants.
Lady’s here is in origin a shortening of Our Lady’s, and became familiar through the 16th-c. herbalists; in more recent times ladies’ has in some cases been substituted, the change being perhaps assisted by the old spelling ladies of the possessive singular. The designation is usually given to plants of a more than usual beauty or delicacy. (Cf. G. Marien-, frauen-, and F. de notre Dame.)
Lady’s bedstraw (see BEDSTRAW); lady’s bower, clematis; lady’s comb, the Shepherd’s Needle, Scandix Pecten; lady’s delight, the violet; lady’s foxglove, the Great Mullein, Verbascum Thapsus; lady’s glass, looking-glass, Campanula Speculum; (Our) Lady’s hair, (a) the grass Briza media; (b) Adiantum Capillus-veneris, also called Venus’ hair; † lady’s linen, ? LADY-SMOCK; † (Our) Lady’s milkwort, a name for Lungwort, Pulmonaria officinalis; † (Our) Lady’s mint, Mentha viridis; vlady’s navel [adaptation of L. umbilicus Veneris], a name for Navelwort, Cotyledon Umbilicus; † (Our) Lady’s signet LADY’S SEAL; lady’s thimble, (a) the Heath Bell, Campanula rotundifolia; (b) the Foxglove, Digitalis purpurea (Syd. Soc. Lex., 1888); lady’s thumb U.S., Polygonum Persicaria; † (Our) Lady’s tree (see quot.). See also LADY’S FINGER, LADY’S GLOVE, LADY’S LACES, etc.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. cccxxvi. (1633), 887. *Ladies Bower is called in Latine Ambuxum.
1696. Phillips (ed. 5), Ladies Bower, (Clematis), a Plant, which … is fit to make Bowers and Arbors, even for Ladies.
1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., App., Lady’s Bower, Clematis.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. cccc. 884. The Latines call it Scandix … of others Acus Veneris, and Acus Pastoris, or Shepheards Needle, wilde Cheruill, and *Ladies Combe.
1783. Ainsworth, Lat. Dict. (Morell), I. s.v. Comb, Lady’s comb, Pecten Veneris.
1860. O. W. Holmes, Elsie V., v. (1861), 46. Flower-de-luces, and *lady’s-delights.
1776–96. Withering, Brit. Plants (ed. 3), II. 248. Great White Mullein … *Ladies Foxglove.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. civ. § 4. 356. It is called … Venus looking glasse, Speculum Veneris, or *Ladies glasse.
1551. *Ladyes heyre [see HAIR sb. 4 b].
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. cccclvii. 983. In English black Maiden haire and Venus haire, and may be called our Ladies haire.
1794. Martyn, Rousseau’s Bot., xiii. 135. Briza or ladies’ hair.
1761. W. Stukeley, Palæogr. Sacra (1763), 25. Botanists … show a very particular regard to the fair sex … as we may well conclude from so many names they give to plants; ladys fingers, ladys traces, *ladys linen,… ladys slipper, &c.
1640. Parkinson, Theat. Bot., 1740. *Ladies, or Venus looking-glasse.
1677. Grew, Anat. Plants, Colours Plants, i. § 15 (1682), 271. The youngest Buds of Ladys-Lookinglass.
1879. Britten & Holland, Plant-n., *Lady’s (Our) Milkwort, Pulmonaria officinalis.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. ccxv. 553. In English Speare Mint, common Garden Mint, our Ladies Mint [etc.]. Ibid., cxliii. § 3. 424. Nauelwoort is called … in English Pennywoort, Wall Pennywoort, *Ladies nauell, and Hipwoort.
1611. Cotgr., Escueller, Hipwort, Wall-penniewort, Ladies-nauell (an hearbe).
1657. W. Coles, Adam in Eden, cxci. 299. The black Bryony is called Sigillum Sanctæ Mariæ, our *Ladies Signet.
1853. G. Johnston, Nat. Hist. E. Bord., I. 134. Campanula rotundiflora. Blue-Bells: *Ladies’ Thimbles. Ibid., 158. Our little girls glove their fingers with them [Digitalis purpurea] and call them Ladies’ thimbles.
1608. Topsell, Serpents (1658), 601. In ancient time, the ignorant multitude, seeing a Birch tree with green leaves in the Winter, did call it our *Ladies Tree, or a holy tree, attributing that greenness to miracle.
Hence Ladydom, the realm of ladies. Ladyish a., resembling a lady, having the objectionable characteristics of a ‘fine lady.’ Ladyism, the manners or behavior of a lady (cf. young-ladyism). Ladyness, (a) cf. quot. 1538; (b) effeminacy.
1538. Latimer, Serm. & Rem. (Parker Soc.), 403. By reason of their lady [a wooden image of Our Lady] they have been given to much idleness; but now that she is gone, they be turned to laboriousness, and so from ladyness to godliness.
1785. [E. Perronet], Occas. Verses, Who & What is a Man? 135. Powder’d fops of ladyness.
1830. Examiner, 773/1. The whining of an artificial and lady-ish City Miss.
1843. Fraser’s Mag., XXVIII. 568. Accustomed to the atmosphere and language of Ladydom.
1856. Whyte-Melville, Kate Cov., xxi. Miss Molasses, the pink of propriety and ‘what-would-mamma-say’ ladyism.
