Lady

How to spell lady

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce lady

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does lady mean?

1. nounA woman, especially one regarded with politeness or as having refined manners or high rank.

Lady in a sentence

• The older lady at the counter helped me find the right form.

• A well-dressed lady asked the waiter for the wine list.

Where does lady come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Lady comes from the Old English hlaefdige, a compound that literally meant 'loaf-kneader', built from hlaf, meaning 'loaf' or 'bread', and dige, meaning 'kneader' or one who shapes dough. The original sense pointed to the woman who was mistress of a household and oversaw the making of bread, a counterpart to the male head, hlafweard or 'loaf-keeper', which became 'lord'. Over the centuries the heavy Old English consonant cluster wore away: hlaefdige softened to lavedi, then to ladi, and finally to the smooth two-syllable lady we use today. By the medieval period it had broadened to mean a woman of high social rank or a polite term for any woman, and it also became a formal title and a respectful form of address. The vanished bread-making sense is a neat reminder that this everyday word once described a very practical domestic job.

How the word is built

• From hlæf (loaf, bread)
• dige (kneader); modern form lad-
• -y