lady-in-waiting

American  

[ley-dee-in-wey-ting] / ˈleɪ di ɪnˈweɪ tɪŋ /

noun

• ladies-in-waiting
  plural

1. a lady who is in attendance upon a queen or princess.

2. Facetious. a woman who is pregnant.

   flattering fashions for the lady-in-waiting.

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lady-in-waiting British  

noun

1. a lady of a royal household who attends a queen or princess

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ladies-in-waiting
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lady-in-waiting

First recorded in 1860–65

Explanation

The attendant who serves as an assistant to a queen or princess is a lady-in-waiting. Queen Elizabeth of York, the wife of King Henry VII, had an astounding 36 ladies-in-waiting. The third wife of England's King Henry VIII, Jane Seymour, served as lady-in-waiting to his first two wives before becoming Queen herself. Most English ladies-in-waiting have been nobles in the same social class as their employers and were considered companions who helped with day-to-day tasks. In other parts of the world, this role was sometimes filled by a servant or slave. Today, female British royals still have ladies-in-waiting whose job is described as "providing companionship and counsel."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lady-in-waiting ladies-in-waiting

Among them is a drawing of Mary Shelton, later Lady Heveningham, a cousin of Anne Boleyn and her lady-in-waiting.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2023

She once gave an expensive watch to a lady-in-waiting who’d been late to an engagement — a not-so-subtle hint to be on time.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2023

Widely considered the world’s first novel, Genji was composed in the eleventh century by Murasaki Shikibu, a noblewoman and lady-in-waiting in the Heian Court.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

The book, which was written by Murasaki Shikibu, a lady-in-waiting in the emperor’s court, continuously centers female perspectives while ostensibly chronicling the escapades of a male hero.

From New York Times ● Apr. 17, 2023

I had been my father’s rowdy daughter, then the queen’s favored lady-in-waiting.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

The silk dresses along the walls are like ghostly ladies-in-waiting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026

In a nod to the “slimmed-down” nature of this coronation, they’re not called ladies-in-waiting, but ladies in attendance — another example of how this ceremony has been updated, but only sort of.

From New York Times ● May 6, 2023

Some of Charlotte’s ladies-in-waiting even complained to the king about their punishing working conditions.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2023

I read all her books, all her poems, all her diaries as well as the diaries of her daughter and her ladies-in-waiting to really get as close as I can to anything like the reality.

From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2023

“Your prioress is like a queen, the fountain of all goodness. All the sisters are her ladies-in-waiting, happy to live under her benevolent rule. There is a hierarchy, with servants in the lowest place.”

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein