noun
Meaning 1
A form of address for a woman: contraction of madam.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: 'm, marm
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
ma'am
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈmæm/ for British royalty
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[ˈmæm] for British royalty
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/ˈmɑːm/ for British officials outside royalty
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[ˈmɑːm] for British officials outside royalty
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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/ˈmæm/ without æ-raising
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[ˈmæm] without æ-raising
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/ˈmeə̯m/
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[ˈmeə̯m]
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/ˈmɛə̯m/
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[ˈmɛə̯m]
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General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -æm
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rhymes with -ɑːm
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CMU ARPABET: M AE1 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A polite and formal way to address a woman.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- Ma'am, will you be attending the dinner this evening?
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A respectful term of address to a woman of higher rank or position.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
- – Sergeant, have the platoon in formation and ready for inspection at 0800. – Aye aye, ma'am.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A title for a married woman.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
Examples
- That is Ma'am Smith, the matriarch of the Smith families.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: ball and chain, better half, boss, bride, dutch, 'er indoors, frow, geezer, her indoors, lady, little woman, little lady, memsahib, missus, old lady, old woman, trouble, trouble and strife, wife, wifekin, wifelet, wifeling, wifey
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A female schoolteacher; a schoolmarm.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, archaic
Topics: education
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: schoolma'am
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To address (a woman) as "ma'am".
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
a woman of refinement
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- a chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: dame, madam, lady, gentlewoman
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: woman, adult female
Narrower terms: grande dame, madame
History
Etymology
The noun is a contraction of madam, and represents a regional pronunciation of that word in the United Kingdom. The verb is derived from the noun.
Across languages
Translations
49 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Albanian: zonjë — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Armenian: տիկին (tikin) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Bengali: মেম — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Bengali: ম্যাডাম (mêḍam) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Bengali: আজ্ঞা (ajna) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Bengali: জী (ji) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Bulgarian: госпожа́ (gospožá) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Chinese Mandarin: 美女 (měinǚ) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Estonian: proua — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Finnish: rouva — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- West-Frisian: mefrou — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Georgian: მემ (mem) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Georgian: მადამ (madam) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Georgian: ქალბატონო (kalbaṭono) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Greek: κυρία (kyría) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Ancient Greek: κῡρίᾱ (kūríā) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Gujarati: મેમ — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Hindi: महोदया (mahodyā) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Hungarian: asszony — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Hungarian: asszonyom — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Hungarian: hölgy — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Hungarian: hölgyem — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Indonesian: puan — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Japanese: 婦人 (fujin) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Japanese: 小母さん (obasan) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Korean: 아주머니 (ajumeoni) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Korean: 아줌마 (ajumma) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Malay: puan — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Mongolian: гуай (guaj) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Mopan Maya: noo-chʼup — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Musi: bicé' — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Nanai: эгэ (ege) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Nepali: महिला (mahilā) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Nepali: हजुर (hajura) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Persian: سرکار خانم — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Romanian: doamnă — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Russian: мэм (mɛm) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Russian: мада́м (madám) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Russian: ба́рыня (bárynja) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Russian: боя́рыня (bojárynja) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Russian: госпожа́ (gospožá) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Russian: госуда́рыня (gosudárynja) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Russian: гражда́нка (graždánka) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Russian: суда́рыня (sudárynja) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Thai: แหม่ม (mɛ̀m) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Turkish: hanımefendi — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Ukrainian: мем (mem) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Urdu: بی بی (bī bī) — chiefly used as a form of address: contraction of madam — see also madam
- Finnish: rouva — married woman other than one’s wife