Definition of "dame" []

• Used formerly as a courtesy title for a woman in authority or a mistress of a household. (noun)
• A married woman; a matron. (noun)
• An elderly woman. (noun)
• Slang A woman. (noun)
• Chiefly British A woman holding a nonhereditary title conferred by a sovereign in recognition of personal merit or service to the country. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "He accepted this alms, and was rejoiced that he was faithful to the last to poverty, which he called his dame and his mistress; then raising his hands to heaven, he gave glory to our Lord Jesus"
• "He accepted this alms, and was rejoiced that he was faithful to the last to poverty, which he called his dame and his mistress; then raising his hands to heaven, he gave glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, that, being disengaged and free from everything, he was about to go to Him."
• "Chess-players may have borrowed the word dame from the game of draughts."