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• dame
  dame

  noun

  (in Britain)
• Dame
  Dame

  noun

  the title of a woman who has been awarded the Order of the British Empire or any of certain other orders of chivalry

dame

American  

[deym] / deɪm /

noun

1. (initial capital letter) (in Britain)

   1. the official title of a female member of the Order of the British Empire, equivalent to that of a knight.

   2. the official title of the wife of a knight or baronet.

2. (formerly) a form of address to any woman of rank or authority.

3. a matronly woman of advanced age; matron.

4. Slang: Sometimes Offensive. a term used to refer to a woman.

   Some dame cut me off and almost caused an accident.

5. Ecclesiastical. a title of a nun in certain orders.

6. a mistress of a dame-school.

7. Archaic. the mistress of a household.

8. Archaic. a woman of rank or authority, especially a female ruler.

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dame ¹ British  

/ deɪm /

noun

1. (formerly) a woman of rank or dignity; lady

2. a nun who has taken the vows of her order, esp a Benedictine

3. archaic a matronly or elderly woman

4. slang a woman

5. Also called: pantomime dame.  the role of a comic old woman in a pantomime, usually played by a man

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Dame ² British  

/ deɪm /

noun

1. the title of a woman who has been awarded the Order of the British Empire or any of certain other orders of chivalry

2. the legal title of the wife or widow of a knight or baronet, placed before her name Compare Lady

   Dame Judith

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Sensitive Note

Dame is sometimes perceived as insulting when used to refer generally to a woman, unless it is a woman of rank or advanced age.

Etymology

Origin of dame

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French < Latin domina, feminine of dominus lord, master

Example Sentences

She was made a dame in 2009, and has also acted as a senior adviser to the British government and the United Nations on artificial intelligence.

From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026

Twila is, in Hollywood parlance, a “firecracker” — you know, the tough-talking dame who inevitably nurses a wounded heart.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2026

The Aberdeen-born politician has been made a dame.

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025

The pair said becoming a dame and a sir respectively was "wonderful and humbling at the same time".

From Barron's • Dec. 29, 2025

She only knew that the past ten days since the dame school had begun had been the pleasantest she had known in Connecticut.

From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare