m'lady

See also: mladý

English

Alternative forms

• milady

Etymology

Elision of my + lady.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /məˈleɪdi/
• Rhymes: -eɪdi

Noun

m'lady (plural m'ladies)

1. (now often historical or humorous) My Lady (used to address peers temporal, judges, etc).

Related terms

• m'lord

Verb

m'lady (third-person singular simple present m'ladies, present participle m'ladying, simple past and past participle m'ladied)

1. To address as “m’lady”.
   • 1929, Mrs. C. S. Peel [i.e., Constance Peel], A Hundred Wonderful Years: Social and Domestic Life of a Century, 1820-1920, London: John Lane The Bodley Head Ltd., page 103:

     […] when people living in the same social set m’lorded and m’ladied each other with much frequency.

   • 1932, Mrs. C. S. Peel [i.e., Constance Peel], The Stream of Time: Social and Domestic Life in England, 1805-1861, page 162:

     […] lavishly “M’Ladyed,” as was the fashion of the day.

   • 1938, Gilbert Frankau, The Dangerous Years: A Trilogy, New York, N.Y.: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., book three (Present Day), chapter ninety-eight, section 5, page 680:

     Then he was coming down the slope to her, m’ladying her again: “It’s the lady who telephoned, m’lady. I wasn’t sure whether you would wish to receiver her, m’lady. So I asked her to wait in the hall until I ascertained whether you had returned, m’lady”.

   • 1939, Gilbert Frankau, Royal Regiment: A Novel of Contemporary Behaviours, New York, N.Y.: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., page 423:

     Fanny (how much Tom had told her about Fanny) m’ladied her and took her cloak.

   • 1962, Frank Baines, Culture of Bacillus, London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, page 96:

     “ […] Please get out of the habit of m’ladying me, once and for all, and reserve it for Grandmama.” “Yes, m’lady!” “There you go again!”

   • 2021, Jackie Barbosa, “Epilogue”, in A Bit of Rough: The House of Uncommons, Book One, Circe Press, →ISBN:

     If only she could get him to stop m’ladying her...

Anagrams

• madly