la·dy / ˈlādē/ • n. (pl. -dies) 1. a woman (used as a polite or old-fashioned form of reference): I spoke to the lady at the travel agency [as adj.] a lady doctor. ∎  an informal, often brusque, form of address to a woman: I'm sorry, lady, but you have the wrong number.2. a woman of superior social position, esp. one of noble birth: lords and ladies and royalty were once entertained at the house. ∎  a courteous, decorous, or genteel woman: his wife was a real lady, with such nice manners. ∎  (Lady) (in the UK) a title used by peeresses, female relatives of peers, the wives and widows of knights, etc.: Lady Caroline Lamb.3. (also la·dy friend) a woman with whom a man is romantically or sexually involved: the young man bought a rose for his lady.PHRASES: it isn't over till the fat lady sings used to convey that there is still time for a situation to change. [ORIGIN: by association with the final aria in tragic opera.]ladies who lunch inf. or often derog. women with both the means and the free time to meet each other socially for lunch in expensive restaurants.Lady Bountiful a woman who engages in ostentatious acts of charity, more to impress others than out of a sense of concern for those in need. [ORIGIN: early 19th cent.: from the name of a character in Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem (1707).]Lady Luck chance personified as a controlling power in human affairs: it seemed Lady Luck was still smiling on them.lady of the house a woman at the head of a household: he always asked the lady of the house the shade of paint she would like.My Lady a polite form of address to certain noblewomen.DERIVATIVES: la·dy·hood / -ˌhoŏd/ n.ORIGIN: Old English hlǣfdīge (denoting a woman to whom homage or obedience is due, such as the wife of a lord or the mistress of a household, also specifically the Virgin Mary), from hlāf ‘loaf’ + a Germanic base meaning ‘knead,’ related to dough; compare with lord. In Lady Day and other compounds where it signifies possession, it represents the Old English genitive hlǣfdīgan ‘(Our) Lady's.’