mademoiselle
Americannoun
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mademoiselles,
plural
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mesdemoiselles
plural
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(often initial capital letter) a French title of respect equivalent to “Miss”, used in speaking to or of a girl or unmarried woman: Mlle.
Mademoiselle Lafitte.
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a French governess.
noun
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a young unmarried French girl or woman: usually used as a title equivalent to Miss
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a French teacher or governess
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mademoiselle
1635–45; < French; Old French ma damoisele my noble young lady; see madame, damsel
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Madame or mademoiselle, the française of life-style literature represents a very limited idea of the Parisienne.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 19, 2019
A maid carries away the breakfast tray of a pretty young mademoiselle lounging in bed behind her.
From New York Times ● Aug. 14, 2014
As she lost consciousness she recalled the doctor saying: "Au revoir, monsieur," and when she awoke, she heard: "Bonjour, mademoiselle."
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2013
He prances up behind a sports car to doff his hat to a long-haired blonde in the front seat, only to find that she is an Afghan hound, not a mademoiselle.
From Time Magazine Archive
“Sit. I’m sure if one of you were to call out instructions, the mademoiselle who looks like a giraffe will hear, will she not?”
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Linux lads and Mac mademoiselles, your time has come to play Inscryption!
From The Verge ● Jun. 23, 2022
There may have been a subtle throwback to the those well-brought up “bon chic bon genre” mademoiselles, before the 1968 Paris student uprising.
From New York Times ● Mar. 2, 2011
"To what am I indebted for the honour of this visit, mademoiselles?"
From My Strangest Case by Guy Boothby
The mademoiselles whom we meet will probably have their own sweethearts.
From The Mischief Maker by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim
"Eef mademoiselles, your aunts, should get to hear—" "Oh, I won't tell."
From Mary Minds Her Business by George Weston
At 300 meters, neither slackening nor quickening their punishing pace, they passed the mesdemoiselles.
From Time Magazine Archive
Here a general murmur arose, and the teacher, opening her lips for the first time, ejaculated— "Silence, mesdemoiselles!"
From The Professor by Charlotte Brontë
I did not bear the first view like a stoic; I was dazzled, my eyes fell, and in a voice somewhat too low I murmured— "Prenez vos cahiers de dictee, mesdemoiselles."
From The Professor by Charlotte Brontë
I learned this morning that mesdemoiselles were to-day to be brought before the Tribunal, and we filled the hall with women and two or three score of sailors.
From In the Reign of Terror by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
"In here, mesdemoiselles," he said to Marie, pointing to some shrubs close to the gate.
From In the Reign of Terror by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
