madonna
/məˈdɒnə/
madonna noun: a representation of the Virgin Mary.
Noun (1)
madonna (plural madonnas)
- A representation of the Virgin Mary.
- Glogau Stat.—Inns: Deutsches Haus; Westphal’s Hotel. A fortress of the 2nd rank on the l. bank of the Oder, 17,000 Inhab. The Dom upon an island dates from 1120, and contains a madonna by Cranach, sen., his masterpiece.1868, “Sect VI.—Prussia, continued. Route 81”, in A Handbook for Travellers on the Continent: Being a Guide to Holland, Belgium, Prussia, Northern Germany, and the Rhine from Holland to Switzerland....
- Giacomo Medica’s (1965) sample of the 697 most important Marian sanctuaries in Italy gives us some idea of the number of Italian madonnas in Italy as a whole.1992, Michael P. Carroll, “The Mary Cult”, in Madonnas That Maim: Popular Catholicism in Italy since the Fifteenth Century, Baltimore, Md.; London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 62
- A morally pure woman.
- Yet most of us will probably deny that this blissful woman is a sexual woman. We associate her with Virgin Mary, who conceived in an act of spiritual purity and not in carnal lust and desire. We regard her chastity as essential to her maternal rectitude. Thus we hardly recognize the madonna's...1995, Merete Leonhardt-Lupa, “A Mother's Sexuality”, in A Mother Is Born: Preparing for Motherhood During Pregnancy, Westport, Conn.; London: Bergin & Garvey, →ISBN, page 113
- For centuries, madonnas provided legitimate children and social respectability; whores, illegitimate pleasure.1997, Teri Goodson, “A Prostitute Joins NOW”, in Jill Nagle, editor, Whores and Other Feminists, New York, N.Y.; London: Routledge, →ISBN, part 5 (Politics: Activism, Intervention, and Alliance)...
- A lady.
- […] hee lay laſt night in ſuch a madonnas chamber, tother night he lay in ſuch a Counteſſes couch, to night he lies in ſuch a Ladies cloſet, […]1604 (date written), Iohn Marston [i.e., John Marston], Parasitaster, or The Fawne, […], 2nd edition, London: […] T[homas] P[urfoot] for W[illiam] C[otton], published 1606, →OCLC, Act III, scene i
- A Hollywood madonna […] “Gentlemen: This is my Christmas madonna …”1960 December, Skulda V. Baner, “A Hollywood madonna”, in American Girl, volume XLIII, number 12, Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., page 42
Noun (2)
madonna (plural madonnas)
Proper noun capitalized: Madonna
(the) Madonna (plural Madonnas)
- Synonym of Mary, mother of Jesus, especially in Catholic contexts.
- Synonyms:
- Mary, mother of Jesus
- A female given name from Italian.
- We feel bound to add, however, that it is not very likely, in the usual chances of events, that such names as Alaric Attila Watts should have met in matrimony with those of Zillah Madonna Wiffen; and an unkind world may suggest a mystification somewhere.1835 June, Fraser's Magazine, volume XI, page 652
- But celebrities actually have a weak effect on baby names. As of 2000, the pop star Madonna had sold 130 million records worldwide but hadn't generated even the ten copycat namings―in California, no less―required to make the master index of four thousand names from which the sprawling list of...2005, Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics, Allen Lane, published 2005, →ISBN, page 184
Noun (3) capitalized: Madonna
Madonna (plural Madonnas)
- An artistic representation of the Virgin Mary, chiefly when holding the infant Jesus.
- A beautiful example of this type of Madonna is the polyptych in the Museo Civico in Sansepolcro.
- So many Madonnas were produced during the Renaissance that it became the habit to distinguish them by any peculiarity.1913, “Art Galleries of Florence”, in The World’s Progress: With Illustrative Texts from Masterpieces of Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Modern European and American Literature, Fully Illustrated...
- A morally pure woman.
- “Men,” I said, with a tone of disgust. “Halal circles, haram circles, good, bad, Madonnas, whores, goats, penises, it’s all the same.”2000, Deborah Copaken Kogan, Shutterbabe: Adventures in Love and War, Villard Books, →ISBN, page 52
- […] the mothers who, like Sebastian’s mother in Notorious or Mitch’s mother Lydia in The Birds, block such a transference, or by potential love-objects who are, themselves, Madonnas, whores, or otherwise thinly disguised maternal figures.2008, Paul Gordon, Dial “M” for Mother: A Freudian Hitchcock, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, →ISBN, page 205
madonna meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
madonna in Hindi
- मैडोना, मडोना
madonna in Tamil
- மடோனா, மேடோனா
madonna in Marathi
- मॅडोना
madonna in Urdu
- حضرت مریم
More languagesFewer languages
- madonna in Bengali
- কুমারী মেরী
- madonna in Telugu
- మడోన్నా, మడోనా
- madonna in Malayalam
- കന്യാമറിയത്തിൻറെ രൂപം, ഭവതി, കുലീന
- madonna in Kannada
- ಮಡೋನ್ನಾ, ಮಡೋನಾ, ಮಡೊನ್ನಾ
- madonna in Punjabi
- ਮੈਡੋਨਾ
- madonna in Gujarati
- મેડોના
- madonna in Odia
- ମଡୋନା, ମ୍ଯ଼ାଡୋନା
- madonna in Nepali
- म्याडोना, मडोना
Examples of madonna in a sentence
- When it has not whitened them, the church has attempted to assimilate dark or black madonnas; this is evident in the many Italian madonnas described as bruna.1993, Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, Black Madonnas: Feminism, Religion, and Politics in Italy, Northeastern University Press, →ISBN, page 32:
- Thus we hardly recognize the madonna's subtle sensuality as sexual energy, especially not in an age where we measure sexuality in orgasmic potency.1995, Merete Leonhardt-Lupa, “A Mother's Sexuality”, in A Mother Is Born: Preparing for Motherhood During Pregnancy, Westport, Conn....
Synonyms of madonna
- Mary
- mother of Jesus
Forms of madonna
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | madonnas |
| plural | Madonnas |
| alternative form | madonna |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Madonnas |
| alternative form (obsolete) | Madona |
Origin of madonna
Said to be named after the American singer Madonna.
From Italian madonna, from Old Italian ma (“my”) + donna (“lady”). The given name is derived from the English term, not used as a given name in Italy. Doublet of madam.
Words formed from madonna
Phrases with madonna
Questions about madonna
- What does madonna mean?
- Madonna means a representation of the Virgin Mary.
- What is madonna in Hindi?
- Madonna in Hindi is मैडोना, मडोना. See Madonna meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use madonna in a sentence?
- When it has not whitened them, the church has attempted to assimilate dark or black madonnas; this is evident in the many Italian madonnas described as bruna.
- What part of speech is madonna?
- Madonna can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce madonna?
- Madonna is pronounced /məˈdɒnə/.
- What is the plural of madonna?
- The plural of madonna is madonnas.
Words near madonna in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: madonna (page history and authors); Madonna (page history and authors); madonna (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); madonna (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); madonna (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); Madonna (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); madonna (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); madonna (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); Madonna (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); madonna (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); madonna (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); madonna (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); madonna (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); madonna (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-Madonna.oga.
Cite this entry: “madonna.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/madonna. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.