Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “ladyship” come from?

Ladyship comes from Middle English lady with the suffix -scipe, from Old English hlāf meaning "loaf of bread," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European skab-.

ladyship (English): Term of respect for a woman of the peerage...

Definitions

  1. Term of respect for a woman of the peerage...

Ancestry of “ladyship”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishshipA water-borne vessel generally larger than a...
2EnglishrelationshipConnection or association; the condition of being...
3EnglishrelationThe manner in which two things may be associated;...
4Middle Englishrelacion—
5Old Frenchrelacion—
6Latinrelātiō—
7Latinreferō—
8Latinrĕ-—
9Latinprōdūcō—
10Latinprō-—
11Proto-Italic*pro-—
12Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
13Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
14Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
15Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →