madame
See also: Madame
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French madame, from Old French ma dame (“my lady”). Doublet of madam and Madonna.
Pronunciation edit
- (UK) IPA(key): /məˈdæm/, /məˈdɑːm/, /ˈmæ.dəm/
- (US) IPA(key): /məˈdæm/, /məˈdɑm/, /mæˈdæm/, /mæˈdɑm/, /ˈmæ.dəm/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -æm, -ɑm, -ædəm
Audio (Southern England) (file) Audio (Southern England) (file) Audio (Southern England) (file)
Noun edit
madame (plural madames or mesdames)
- Alternative form of madam
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Anagrams edit
Finnish edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
madame
Declension edit
Inflection of madame (Kotus type 8/nalle, no gradation) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
nominative | madame | madamet | ||
genitive | madamen | madamejen | ||
partitive | madamea | madameja | ||
illative | madameen | madameihin | ||
singular | plural | |||
nominative | madame | madamet | ||
accusative | nom. | madame | madamet | |
gen. | madamen | |||
genitive | madamen | madamejen madameinrare | ||
partitive | madamea | madameja | ||
inessive | madamessa | madameissa | ||
elative | madamesta | madameista | ||
illative | madameen | madameihin | ||
adessive | madamella | madameilla | ||
ablative | madamelta | madameilta | ||
allative | madamelle | madameille | ||
essive | madamena | madameina | ||
translative | madameksi | madameiksi | ||
abessive | madametta | madameitta | ||
instructive | — | madamein | ||
comitative | See the possessive forms below. |
Derived terms edit
compounds
Further reading edit
- “madame”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][1] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03
French edit
Etymology edit
From Old French ma dame (“my lady”), equivalent to ma + dame.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
madame f (plural mesdames)
- a title or form of address for a woman, formerly for a married woman and now commonly for any adult woman regardless of marital status, used both in direct and third-person address
- Bonjour, madame, comment puis-je vous aider ?
- Hello, ma'am, how can I help you?
- Si vous êtes libre, pourriez-vous aider madame, s’il vous plaît?
- If you're free, could you help this lady, please?
- madam, Mrs. or Ms.; a title used with a woman's full name or surname, or (in childish language) her first name
- (in children's language, childish) lady, woman
- Dis merci à la madame.
- Say thank you to the lady.
- the female employer of a domestic servant
- 2020, Laure Stéphan, “« Ma Madame m’a dit qu’ils ne pouvaient plus me payer » : au Liban, le calvaire des domestiques éthiopiennes”, in Le Monde[2]:
- Mazaa, 23 ans, ancienne nourrice et femme de ménage, croix autour du cou, cache son visage. « Ma Madame (employeuse) m’a dit qu’ils ne pouvaient plus me payer. […] »
- Mazaa, 23 years old, former nanny and housekeeper, a cross around her neck, hides her face. "My madame (employer) told me they couldn't pay me anymore. […]"
Usage notes edit
- Unlike in English, Madame is frequently used without a name or article as a polite reference to a woman in the third person, notably in official registers:
- Madame s’est présentée à l’urgence à 18 h 12.
- The/This lady/The patient/Ms. [name] attended the emergency room at 6:12 p.m.
- Although un/le monsieur is used as a common noun to mean "a/the gentleman," using the word une/la madame to mean "a/the lady" is considered childish language. Instead, une/la dame is used.
Synonyms edit
Coordinate terms edit
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
Further reading edit
- “madame”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
madame f
References edit
- ^ madame in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
Middle English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Old French madame; compare dame.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
madame (plural madames)
Descendants edit
References edit
- “ma-dam(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Portuguese edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
madame f (plural madames)
Spanish edit
Etymology edit
Noun edit
madame f (plural madames)
Swedish edit
Noun edit
madame c
- Synonym of fru (and French)
Declension edit
Declension of madame | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | madame | madamen | madamer | madamerna |
Genitive | madames | madamens | madamers | madamernas |