Why do we call women ladies? Well, etymologically-speaking, the word comes from the Old English words for hlaf (bread) and daege (maid), which, combined, mean the female head of the household and eventually indicated high social standing. Jessica Oreck and Rachael Teel follow the word to its contemporary position simply describing a female. [2:07]

Concepts

etymology, word origins

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Additional Tags

women, ted ed:mysteries of vernacular: lady, female, word origin

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Classroom Considerations

• Knovation Readability Score: 4 (1 low difficulty, 5 high difficulty)