What is 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:

    “The first lady is, and always has been, an unpaid public servant elected by one person, her husband.”
    —Lady Bird Johnson (b. 1912)

    “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    “In Hydaspia, by Howzen,
    Lived a lady, Lady Lowzen,
    For whom what is was other things.”
    —Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)