dame

UK/deɪm/

dame noun: usually capitalized as Dame: a title equivalent to Sir for a female knight.

Image: Caroline Bonarde Ucci at, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

dame (plural dames)

(UK) Usually capitalized as Dame: a title equivalent to Sir for a female knight.
- Dame Edith Sitwell
- The cover of the modern cd, issued by EMI Classics with Dame Janet Baker and Sir John Barbirolli in 1965, carries a portrait of Dame Janet wearing a long coral necklace in reference to the song 'Where the Corals lie' to words by Richard Garnett (1835–1906).2009, Marcia Pointon, “Something Rich and Strange”, in Brilliant Effects: A Cultural History of Gem Stones and Jewellery, New Haven, Conn.; London: Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in...
(UK) A matron at a school, especially Eton College.
- Even though the dames’ houses were being gradually phased out at Eton, [John Henry] Newman was enthusiastic about the arrangement since it met one of the promoters’ key demands; besides, he had experienced something similar as a boy at Ealing School, where the boarding houses were also under the...2005, Paul Shrimpton, “Darnell’s School”, in A Catholic Eton?: Newman’s Oratory School, Leominster, Herefordshire: Gracewing, →ISBN, page 88
- As he [Fréderic Guyaz] worked for Topham [Beauclerk] while he was at Eton, it is likely that Topham was a day-boarder there, living at home in Windsor. His Eton "dame" was Mrs. Bland; day-boarders were allocated to a dame at whose house they took their meals.2016, David Noy, “Parents, Childhood, Youth (1739–1760)”, in Dr Johnson’s Friend and Robert Adam’s Client Topham Beauclerk, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN...
(UK) In traditional pantomime: a melodramatic female often played by a man in drag.
- [page 73, column 2] Mother Goose was produced on the 29th of December; Simmons playing the Old Dame; […] [page 74, column 1] Bugle condemns her to the ducking-stool, a sentence opposed by Colin, who espouses the cause of the Old Dame, who, escaping from her persecutors, puts an end to the wedding...1870 January 29, “English Pantomime. In Two Parts.—Part II.”, in William, Robert Chambers, editors, Chambers’s Journal of Popular Literature, Science and Art, volume VII (Fourth Series), number 318...
- The Dame in a Panto is generally a large, gregarious and out-going man who plays the part of a large, gregarious and out-going woman. […] Every successful actor who plays the part of Dame in Panto knows that the secret of his success is that it should be obvious that it is a man playing a part, for...2013, Maureen Hughes, “Welcome to the Magical World of Pantomime”, in A History of Pantomime, Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword History, →ISBN, page 34
(US, dated, informal, slightly derogatory) A woman.
- I can see that would be the kind of a chap that the dames would stand for everlastingly.1903 March, Guy Wetmore Carryl, The Lieutenant-Governor: A Novel, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company; Riverside Press, Cambridge [Mass.], →OCLC, page 37
- There is nothin' like a dame / Nothin' in the world. / There is nothin' you can name / That is anythin' like a dame.1949, Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics), Richard Rodgers (music), “There Is Nothing Like a Dame”, in South Pacific; published in Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics); Oscar Hammerstein II; Joshua Logan (book)...
(archaic) A lady, a woman.
- Now, thou, deare dame, that workſte theſe ſweete effectes in mee, / Vouchsafe my zeale, that onely ſeeke to ſerve and honour thee.1576, George Whetstone, “The Castle of Delight: […]”, in The Rocke of Regard, […], London: […] [H. Middleton] for Robert Waley, →OCLC; republished in J[ohn] P[ayne] Collier, editor, The Rocke of...
- [T]hough they were first-form'd dames of Earth, / And in whose sparcklinge and refulgent eyes / The glorious sonne did still delight to rise; […]a. 1638, Ben Jonson, “The Twelvth^([sic]) Night’s Revells”, in Peter Cunningham, edited by David Laing, Inigo Jones and Ben Jonson: Being the Life of Inigo Jones. […], London: Printed for the...
The hereditary feudal ruler (seigneur) of Sark, when the title is held by a woman in her own right.
(slang) A queen.

Verb

dame (third-person singular simple present dames, present participle daming, simple past and past participle damed)

To make a dame.
- The French call simply Pawn, “la Dame qui n’est point Damée, et l’on n’appelle Dame proprement dite, que le Pion qui est Damé, et couvert d’un autre Pion,” which means “the Draught or Pawn which is not damed, and which is only termed Dame or Queen, when the Pawn which is damed, is covered with...1805, Richard Twiss, “On Draughts”, in Miscellanies, volume II, London: […], page 162
- Jonathan’s first edition of Calais was signed by Dame Agatha [Christie]. Not as Dame Agatha, just plain Agatha. She got Damed later.1995, H. Paul Jeffers, A Grand Night For Murder

Noun (2) capitalized: Dame

Dame (plural Dames)

(UK) The titular prefix given to a female knight

dame meaning in Bengali, Malayalam and Kannada

dame in Bengali

গৃহিণী, মহিলা, দেবী, গৃহকত্র্রী, ঠাকরূণ, মা

dame in Malayalam

പ്രൗഢ, കുലീന, ഉന്നത നിലയിലുളള സ്ത്രീ, ഗൃഹനായിക, അമ്മ

Examples of dame in a sentence

The Ealing dames ensured that boys were properly dressed and cared for them when sick, and they also ran the tuck shops.2005, Paul Shrimpton, “Darnell’s School”, in A Catholic Eton?: Newman’s Oratory School, Leominster, Herefordshire: Gracewing, →ISBN, page...
And do you think my Dame Dobſon don't know a little better than you?1684, Edward Ravenscroft, Dame Dobson: Or, The Cunning Woman. A Comedy as it is Acted at the Duke’s Theatre, London: Printed for Joseph...
[…]Joanna Lumley, both pros in their respective fields, and both Brits in their respective hearts, are now both newly knighted (damed, in Lumley’s case) by England’s Queen Lizzy.1995, Mediaweek, page C-8:
Edna [Everage] was damed spontaneously, on camera, by the Socialist Australian prime minister Gough Whitlam.2004, John Lahr, “Barry Humphries: Playing possum”, in Matthew Ricketson, editor, The Best Australian Profiles, Black Inc., →ISBN, page 215:

All 37 example sentences with dame

Synonyms of dame

woman

Forms of dame

Noun
plural	dames
plural	Dames
Verb
third-person singular present	dames
present participle	daming
past participle	damed
past	damed

Plural of dame: dames

Origin of dame

From Middle English dame, dam (“noble lady”), from Old French dame (“lady; term of address for a woman; the queen in card games and chess”), from Latin domina (“mistress of the house”), feminine form of dominus (“lord, master, ruler; owner of a residence”), or from Latin domus (“home, house”). Doublet of domina and donna.

Words formed from dame

Phrases with dame

Words that rhyme with dame

37 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about dame

What does dame mean?: Dame means usually capitalized as Dame: a title equivalent to Sir for a female knight.
What is dame in Bengali?: Dame in Bengali is গৃহিণী, মহিলা, দেবী. See Dame meaning in Bengali.
How do you use dame in a sentence?: The Ealing dames ensured that boys were properly dressed and cared for them when sick, and they also ran the tuck shops.
What part of speech is dame?: Dame can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce dame?: Dame is pronounced /deɪm/ (UK).
What is the plural of dame?: The plural of dame is dames.

Words near dame in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: dame (page history and authors); Dame (page history and authors); dame (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dame (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dame (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-dame.ogg.

Cite this entry: “dame.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dame. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.