Ladye

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic form of lady, a woman of high birth or gentle rank ; a woman who is loved or courted by a man in old romantic verse
2. Old spelling for a noblewoman or a lady of gentle birth ; a sweetheart or beloved woman as addressed in medieval and early modern poetry
3. A woman of gentle or noble standing in older English usage ; a female beloved, the object of a courtly lover's devotion

Etymology: The word "lady" began as a compound meaning "loaf-kneader." Its Old English ancestor, "hlǣfdīġe," joined "hlāf," meaning bread or loaf, with "dǣġe," a female servant whose job was kneading dough. The mistress of a household was, quite literally, the woman who baked the bread. Over the centuries the word climbed the social ladder. Its meaning widened from the head of a household to the wife of a lord, and then to a woman of high rank in her own right. The earlier, humbler sense survives in the related word "dey," meaning dairymaid, which comes from the same "dǣġe" element. The spelling "ladye" is simply an older form that Middle English writers used, with the final "e" a relic of the period's spelling habits. The word is unrelated to "lad," despite the similar sound.

Synonyms: lady, dame, gentlewoman, noblewoman

Antonyms: gentleman