Meaning of dame | Babel Free

Definitions

1. Usually capitalized as Dame: a title equivalent to Sir for a female knight
2. Usually capitalized as Dame: a title equivalent to Sir for a female knight.
   British
3. The titular prefix given to a female knight
   British
4. Used formerly as a courtesy title for a woman in authority or a mistress of a household.
5. A matron at a school, especially Eton College
6. A matron at a school, especially Eton College.
   British
7. A married woman; a matron.
8. In traditional pantomime: a melodramatic female often played by a man in drag
9. In traditional pantomime: a melodramatic female often played by a man in drag.
   British
10. Often Offensive Slang A woman.
    Often Offensive Slang
11. A woman
12. A woman.
    US, dated, informal
13. A lady, a woman.
    archaic
14. Chiefly British a. A woman holding a nonhereditary title conferred by a sovereign in recognition of personal merit or service to the country.
    Chiefly British
15. A lady, a woman
16. The hereditary feudal ruler (seigneur) of Sark, when the title is held by a woman in her own right.
17. (Sociology) (formerly) a woman of rank or dignity; lady
18. A queen.
    slang
19. (Ecclesiastical Terms) a nun who has taken the vows of her order, esp a Benedictine
20. archaic chiefly Brit a matronly or elderly woman
    archaic
21. slang chiefly US and Canadian a woman
    slang
22. (Theatre) Also called: pantomime dame Brit the role of a comic old woman in a pantomime, usually played by a man
    Brit
23. (Sociology) the title of a woman who has been awarded the Order of the British Empire or any of certain other orders of chivalry

Equivalents

Examples

“Dame Edith Sitwell”

“The cover of the modern cd, issued by EMI Classics with Dame Janet Baker and Sir John Barbirolli in 1965, carries a portrait of Dame Janet wearing a long coral necklace in reference to the song 'Where the Corals lie' to words by Richard Garnett (1835–1906).”

“Even though the dames’ houses were being gradually phased out at Eton, [John Henry] Newman was enthusiastic about the arrangement since it met one of the promoters’ key demands; besides, he had experienced something similar as a boy at Ealing School, where the boarding houses were also under the jurisdiction of dames. The Ealing dames ensured that boys were properly dressed and cared for them when sick, and they also ran the tuck shops.”

“As he [Fréderic Guyaz] worked for Topham [Beauclerk] while he was at Eton, it is likely that Topham was a day-boarder there, living at home in Windsor. His Eton "dame" was Mrs. Bland; day-boarders were allocated to a dame at whose house they took their meals.”

“[page 73, column 2] Mother Goose was produced on the 29th of December; Simmons playing the Old Dame; […] [page 74, column 1] Bugle condemns her to the ducking-stool, a sentence opposed by Colin, who espouses the cause of the Old Dame, who, escaping from her persecutors, puts an end to the wedding festivities by raising the ghost of the Squire's first wife.”

“The Dame in a Panto is generally a large, gregarious and out-going man who plays the part of a large, gregarious and out-going woman. […] Every successful actor who plays the part of Dame in Panto knows that the secret of his success is that it should be obvious that it is a man playing a part, for this is not a Drag act; the intention is not to be as womanly as possible, but always to be 'a feller in a frock'. […] Oh how everyone loves the Panto Dame for she is Panto.”

“I can see that would be the kind of a chap that the dames would stand for everlastingly.”

“There is nothin' like a dame / Nothin' in the world. / There is nothin' you can name / That is anythin' like a dame.”

“Now, thou, deare dame, that workſte theſe ſweete effectes in mee, / Vouchsafe my zeale, that onely ſeeke to ſerve and honour thee.”

“[T]hough they were first-form'd dames of Earth, / And in whose sparcklinge and refulgent eyes / The glorious sonne did still delight to rise; […]”

“And do you think my Dame Dobſon don't know a little better than you? She tells you, you need ſay no more, and 'tis an affront to her Art not to believe her; and I'le not ſee my Dame affronted.”

“[H]e pointed his staff at a female figure on the path, in whom goodman Brown recognized a very pious and exemplary dame, who had taught him his catechism, in youth, and was still his moral and spiritual adviser, jointly with the minister and deacon Gookin.”

“The poetical relation between the pagan warrior and his celestial bride changed, in course of time, to that between the Christian knight and his ladye-bright, who also was not always an earthly dame, but the holy Virgin or some saint.”

CEFR level