Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A polite form of address for a woman or lady.
  • noun The mistress of a household.
  • noun colloquial A conceited or quarrelsome girl.
  • noun slang A woman who runs a brothel.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French madame, from ma ‘my’ + dame ‘lady’, from post-classical Latin mea domina.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word madam.

Examples

  • The Financial consultant and former madam is running on a platform that centers around legalizing marijuana, prostitution and gay marriage.

    Meet New York's Other Gubernatorial Candidates Simon McCormack 2010

  • The Financial consultant and former madam is running on a platform that centers around legalizing marijuana, prostitution and gay marriage.

    Meet New York's Other Gubernatorial Candidates Simon McCormack 2010

  • The Financial consultant and former madam is running on a platform that centers around legalizing marijuana, prostitution and gay marriage.

    Meet New York's Other Gubernatorial Candidates The Huffington Post News Team 2010

  • The D.C. madam is going to list the names of famous Republicans who used her female escort service.

    Easter Lemming Liberal News 2007

  • The D.C. madam is going to list the names of famous Republicans who used her female escort service.

    Archive 2007-07-01 2007

  • I did not understand anything of that; but I answered, ‘I am sure they call her madam, and she does not go to service nor do housework’; and therefore I insisted that she was a gentlewoman, and I would be such a gentlewoman as that.

    Moll Flanders 2003

  • Thee must not go near the pound, until thee knows for certain the maid thee calls madam can be saved.

    Nick of the Woods Robert M. Bird

  • I did not understand anything of that; but I answered, 'I am sure they call her madam, and she does not go to service nor do housework'; and therefore I insisted that she was a gentlewoman, and I would be such a gentlewoman as that.

    The Fortunes And Misfortunes Of The Famous Moll Flanders Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731 1923

  • He will be able, so he says, to get the house lathed and plastered; and madam – well, madam is going down to Winnipeg, and there will be wonderful shopping and goings-on.

    Janey Canuck in the West Emily Ferguson 1910

  • At the mention of the word madam, she colored slightly.

    Imperium in Imperio: A Study of the Negro Race Problem A Novel 1902

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.