dame Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun informal terms for a (young) woman
    doll; wench; chick; skirt; bird.
  2. noun a woman of refinement
    gentlewoman; madam; ma'am; lady.
    • a chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady

WordNet

Dame noun
Etymology
F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger, Dangeon, Dungeon, Dominie, Don, n., Duenna.
Definitions
  1. A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady.
    Then shall these lords do vex me half so much, As that proud dame, the lord protector's wife. Shak.
  2. The mistress of a family in common life, or the mistress of a common school; as, a dame's school.
    In the dame's classes at the village school. Emerson.
  3. A woman in general, esp. an elderly woman.
  4. A mother; -- applied to human beings and quadrupeds. Obs. Chaucer.

Webster 1913