Ladies

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈleɪdiz/

Definitions

1. A collective term for adult female humans, often associated with social roles, statuses, or specific gatherings
2. Refers to women, especially when addressing them in formal situations or acknowledging their societal presence
3. Adult women considered as a group; women addressed with courtesy or formality

Etymology: Public toilets for women were once often labelled "Ladies" in the same way that men's rooms were labelled "Gents", and the plural form of "lady" has a surprisingly ordinary origin behind that signage. The word itself is the plural of "lady", so the noun simply means more than one woman, but when used on a door it became a euphemism for a women's lavatory, a sense that grew out of the polite vocabulary of public spaces. The sign's wording was then often abbreviated or misspelled. Writers and signwriters sometimes rendered the possessive "ladies'" as "ladies", dropping the apostrophe, and the spelling stuck on doors and in everyday speech, so that asking for the "ladies" became a standard way of asking for the restroom. The same pattern of labelling gave English the matching term "gents" for men's facilities.

Synonyms: women, females, girls, dames

Antonyms: gentlemen, men