a woman of refinement
"a chauffeur opened the door of the limousine for the grand lady"
a woman of the peerage in Britain
"The royal procession included several ladies who stopped to chat with the crowd as they passed through the village square."
The mistress of a household.
"The Duchess bowed gracefully as Lady Catherine entered the ballroom to greet her guests."
An aristocratic title for a woman; the wife of a lord and/or a woman who holds the position in her own right; a title for a peeress, the wife of a peer or knight, and the daughters and daughters-in-law of certain peers.
In plain English: A lady is an adult woman who is often treated with respect because of her good manners and polite behavior.
"The lady at the front desk helped me find my flight information."
Usage: Use "lady" to address any adult woman respectfully or as a general term for females, rather than reserving it exclusively for aristocratic titles like Countess or Baroness. Avoid using it to describe young girls, where terms like "miss" are more appropriate.
The title for the (primary) female deity in female-centered religions.
"In the ancient temple, they placed flowers before the Lady to honor her as the supreme goddess of their faith."
The word "lady" comes from the Old English hlāf ("bread") and dīġe ("kneader"), originally describing a mistress of a household who literally kneaded bread. It traveled into Middle English with this literal meaning before evolving to refer specifically to a noblewoman or wife of a lord.