(a) The mistress of servants; female head of a household, manor, etc.; a woman who has charge (of sth.); ~ of the hous; also fig.; ~ reule, the supreme rule of conduct or living; (b) the personification of Will, Reason, and the like; (c) the abbess or prioress of an abbey; in direct address: mi ~ prioresse; (d) the hostess of an inn.

(a) A female sovereign or ruler; the consort of a ruler; ~ quene; soverain ~; (b) fig.; -- said of the soul, Church, a country, city, etc.; -- also, used in personifications; (c) a royal or tribal princess; also, a royal mistress or concubine; (d) as a form of respect in references or direct address to female royalty; mi ~.

A chess piece, the queen.

(a) The Virgin Mary; mi (oure) ~; -- often in direct address in prayers, hymns, and the like; ~ of erthe, ~ of heven; in the bondes of oure ~, in confinement [see bond 5. (a)]; (b) in oaths and asseverations: bi oure ~, etc.; (c) in names of churches, chapels, altars, and the like, dedicated to the Virgin Mary; oure ~ auter (chapele); oure ladi(es chirche; (d) in names of services, offices, or devotions in honor of the Virgin; oure ~ messe, messe of oure ~, mass in honor of the Virgin; oure ladi(es sauter, Psalter of Mary; oure ~ tid, Office of Our Lady; (e) in names of festivals commemorating certain events in the life of the Virgin: the assumpcioun of oure ~, the Feast of the Assumption, August 15; the nativite of oure ~ dai, the Nativity of the Virgin, September 8; oure ~ in decembre, the Feast of the Conception, December 8; oure ~ of lenten, the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25; oure ladi(es even, oure ladies eve, even of oure ~, the evening or day before one of the festivals; oure ladi(es feste, any of the various festivals; ladi(es dai, q.v.; (f) in other cpds. & combs.: ladies ale, ?a festival associated with the Virgin Mary at which ale is served; oure ladi(es belle, the Angelus; also, the time when this office is said; oure ~ light, a light kept burning in honor of the Virgin; (g) a representation of the Virgin in sculpture, metalwork, etc.

(a) A pagan goddess or a minor deity; ~ fortune, ~ of hap, Dame Fortune; -- often in direct address; (b) a planet; esp. the moon; ~ of the se.

A nun; also, a female attendant in the temple in Jerusalem; also fig.

(a) A woman of high birth or social rank; the wife of a nobleman; mi ~; ~ hunteres, a highborn huntress; ~ chaumbre, a lady's apartment; (b) in titles of noblewomen of various ranks: the wife of a duke, earl, lord, or knight; (c) in direct address.

(a) A lady to whom a knight pays his homage in chivalric love; -- often in direct address; also fig.; ~ love, hertes ~; to (unto) mi ~ ward, to my ladylove, toward my ladylove; (b) in humorous personifications of one's purse or money.

(a) A woman; (b) a wife; (c) a representation of a woman in carving, platework, etc.; also, as a heraldic device; (d) as a term of respect or polite address or honorific title for a woman; (e) in sayings.

(a) In plant name: oure ~ sel, ?Solomon's seal (Polygonatum multiflorum or P. officinale); ?black bryony (Tamus communis); (b) in surnames; (c) in place names [see Smith PNElem. 1.248].