madam

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: mad=am

CIDE DICTIONARY

madam, n. [See Madame.].

•  A gentlewoman; -- an appellation or courteous form of address given to a lady, especially an elderly or a married lady; -- much used in the address, at the beginning of a letter, to a woman. The corresponding word in addressing a man is Sir; often abbreviated ma'am when used as a term of address.  [1913 Webster]
•  The woman who is in charge of a household.  [PJC]
•  The woman who is in charge of a brothel.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

madam, n.
1 a polite or respectful form of address or mode of reference to a woman.
2 Brit. colloq. a conceited or precocious girl or young woman.
3 a woman brothel-keeper.

Etymology

ME f. OF ma dame my lady

THESAURUS

madam

Frau, Fraulein, Miss, Mistress, Mlle, Mme, Mmes, abbess, bawd, chatelaine, dame, dona, donna, dowager, fancy man, first lady, gigolo, goodwife, governess, great lady, homemaker, housewife, lady, madame, mademoiselle, maquereau, matriarch, matron, mem-sahib, mesdames, mistress, mother superior, pander, panderer, pimp, procurer, procuress, senhora, senhorita, signora, signorina, vrouw, white slaver

ROGET THESAURUS

madam

Woman

N woman, she, her, female, petticoat, feminality, muliebrity, womanhood, womankind, the sex, the fair, fair sex, softer sex, weaker vessel, dame, madam, madame, mistress, Mrs, lady, donna belle, matron, dowager, goody, gammer, Frau, frow, Vrouw, rani, good woman, good wife, squaw, wife, matronage, matronhood, bachelor girl, new woman, feminist, suffragette, suffragist, nymph, wench, grisette, girl, sissy, betty, cot betty, cotquean, henhussy, mollycoddle, muff, old woman, hen, bitch, sow, doe, roe, mare, she goat, Nanny goat, tabita, ewe, cow, lioness, tigress, vixen, gynecaeum, estrogen, oestrogen, consanguinity &c, paternity, lesbian, dyke, female, she-, feminine, womanly, ladylike, matronly, maidenly, wifely, womanish, effeminate, unmanly, gynecic, gynaecic, Pron, she, her, hers, ', a perfect woman nobly planned, a lovely lady garmented in white, das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan, earth's noblest thing, a woman perfected, es de vidrio la mujer, she moves a goddess and she looks a queen, the beauty of a lovely woman is like music, varium et mutabile semper femina, woman is the lesser man.