Madam meaning

Richa, it's completely normal in English that words have more than one totally different meaning. BTW just one point, regionally in the US: M'am (and indeed Sir) is the very common form of address in the extremely polite parts of the country (the South-East) but you would rarely hear it in say California. "Madam" or "Ma'am" are polite words to use when you don't know a woman's name, but need a way to refer to her like a name. They are terms of address. It is fairly formal and not very common, as in situations when you talk to someone who you don't know, you don't often need to address them. The typical example is a shop worker speaking to a customer. Would madam like cream in her tea? (This uses third person in a very humble way, it is not normal to speak like this) It is also used (usually as ma'am) in schools, by schoolchildren to address teachers. (Not all schools use it. It is part of the culture of the school). It is also sometimes used in situations of strict hierarchy. A police constable might refer to her Inspector as "Ma'am" because the constable is a junior officer. The same is true in the armed services. In these contexts, it is nearly always reduced to "ma'am". Now, one particular context in which you might need to address a woman, but not know her name is a brothel. The woman who organises the prostitutes doesn't give her name (after all, brothels are illegal) and so she is addressed as "madam" and as a common noun, "a madam" can mean a woman who runs a brothe...

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It was with a heavy heart, and many sad forebodings which no effort could banish, that Kate Nickleby, on the morning appointed for the commencement of her engagement with Madame Mantalini, left the city when its clocks yet wanted a quarter of an hour of eight, and threaded her way alone, amid the noise and bustle of the streets, towards the west end of London. She arrived at Madame Mantalini's some minutes before the appointed hour, and after walking a few times up and down, in the hope that some other female might arrive and spare her the embarrassment of stating her business to the servant, knocked timidly at the door: which, after some delay, was opened by the footman, who had been putting on his striped jacket as he came upstairs, and was now intent on fastening his apron. Madame Pelet's habits of life, then, being taken into consideration, I was a good deal surprised when, one Thursday evening (Thursday was always a half-holiday), as I was sitting all alone in my apartment, correcting a huge pile of English and Latin exercises, a servant tapped at the door, and, on its being opened, presented Madame Pelet's compliments, and she would be happy to see me to take my "gouter" (a meal which answers to our English "tea") with her in the dining-room. Madame Defarge and monsieur her husband returned amicably to the bosom of Saint Antoine, while a speck in a blue cap toiled through the darkness, and through the dust, and down the weary miles of avenue by the wayside, slowly te...