Lady

Lady

The word lady is a polite term for a woman, specifically the female equivalent to, or spouse of, a lord or gentleman, and in many contexts a term for any adult woman. Once relating specifically to women of high social class or status, over the last 300 years it has spread to embrace all adult women, though in some contexts may still be used to evoke a concept of "ladylike" standards of behaviour.

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Famous quotes containing the word lady:

    He was a young lady in so many ways. A Victorian lady. Somewhere inside him, there was an adolescent girl.
    Leon Edel (b. 1907)

    True Thomas lay on Huntlie bank;
    A ferlie he spied wi’ his e’e;
    And there he saw a lady bright,
    Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.
    Unknown. Thomas the Rhymer (l. 1–4)

    What did she say?—Just what she ought, of course. A lady always does.—She said enough to show there need not be despair—and to invite him to say more himself.
    Jane Austen (1775–1817)