The term, which came into English in the Middle Ages from the French dame (compare Italian dama/donna, German Dame), derives from the Latin domina (“mistress”). Dame in English is generally confined to an honorific title; where derivatives of domina in other languages denote a woman of high social rank or status, English uses “lady” (Old English hlafdige = “[woman] who kneads bread”) as Spanish uses señora. As a courtly title, “Dame” was mostly used in conjunctio…