Dame
English
editNoun
editDame (plural Dames)
Usage notes
edit- The title "Dame" is used with the knight's given or full name, but not her family name. If Jane Smith is knighted, she is known as Dame Jane Smith or Dame Jane, never Dame Smith, and she is correctly called Dame Jane wherever she would formerly have been called Ms./Mrs./Miss Smith.
- "Dame" is only used for a woman who holds a knighthood or baronetcy in her own right. The wife of a male knight is styled Lady with her surname.
Coordinate terms
edit- Sir
- (titles) (of a man): Mr (Mister, mister), Sir (sir); (of a woman): Ms (Miz, mizz), Mrs (Mistress, mistress), Miss (miss), Dame (dame), Madam (madam, ma'am); (of a non-binary person): Mx (Mixter); (see also): Dr (Doctor, doctor) (Category: en:Titles)
Translations
editAnagrams
editGerman
editEtymology
editFrom French dame, from Latin domina (“mistress, lady”). Cognate with English dame.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editDame f (genitive Dame, plural Damen)
- lady (woman of good breeding and manners)
- lady; madam (polite term to refer to any woman)
- (chess, card games) queen
- (checkers) king
- (title) Dame
Usage notes
editConcerning the use of the word as a polite term for any woman, note the following tendencies:
- It is common to refer to a woman as Dame when one speaks of her in her presence. Frau might even be slightly impolite in such a context.
- Ich glaube, die Dame war vor mir dran. — “I think this lady was in line before me.”
- Dame used as a general term of address (“die Dame!” – madam!) marks a consciously polite way of speaking, most often heard from waiters, shop assistants, etc. Note that in this case the verb may be in the third-person plural: Wünschen die Dame noch Tee? (though wünscht is equally possible). Dame is also consciously polite when speaking about someone who is not present. In popular speech, it may be used to refer to an elderly woman but rarely to a young or middle-aged one.
- Dame is common in some specific contexts, such as ballroom dancing.
Declension
editDeclension of Dame [feminine]
Derived terms
editSee also
editChess pieces in German · Schachfiguren, Schachsteine (layout · text) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
König | Dame, Königin | Turm | Läufer | Springer, Pferd, Ross, Rössel | Bauer |
Noun
editDame f (genitive Dame, no plural)
Dame n (strong, genitive Dames, no plural)
- (board games) draughts; checkers
- Synonyms: Damespiel n, Damenspiel n
Usage notes
edit- The word rarely ever appears with articles, determiners, or adjectives. When it does, some speakers may construe it as feminine, others as neuter. In formal style, Damespiel is preferable in such contexts.
Derived terms
editDescendants
edit- → Kashubian: damka
Further reading
edit- “Dame” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “Dame (Frau, Brettspiel, Spielfigur)” in Duden online
- “Dame (Titel, Titelträgerin)” in Duden online
- “Dame” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
- Dame on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de
Categories:
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- British English
- en:Titles
- German terms derived from French
- German terms derived from Latin
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio links
- German lemmas
- German nouns
- German feminine nouns
- de:Chess
- de:Card games
- German uncountable nouns
- German neuter nouns
- de:Board games
- de:Titles
- de:Female people