Meaning of madam in oxford dictionary

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This article is about the title. For other uses, see "Mme" redirects here. For other uses, see Madam ( ˈ m æ d əm/), or madame ( ˈ m æ d əm/ or m ə ˈ d ɑː m/), ma'am ˈ m æ m/ in American English ˈ m ɑː m/ in British English madame, from "ma dame" meaning "my lady" . In French, the abbreviation is "M me" or "Mme" and the plural is mesdames (abbreviated "M mes" or "Mmes"). These terms ultimately derive from the Use as a form of address [ ] Formal protocol [ ] After addressing her as " Madam or May it please Your Majesty. Your Royal Highness and subsequently as Ma'am. Madam President or Madame President is a formal form of address for female Madam Secretary is a formal form of address for a Madam Attorney General. Madam Speaker is a correct form of address for a female In the United States, between the early 19th century and 1980, justices of the Supreme Court were formally called Mr. Justice (surname). In 1980, the title was dropped in "to avoid the awkward appellation 'Madam Justice'" in anticipation of a woman joining the court. Madam Justice, matching the Mr. Justice formally used. Justice Justice Barkett, leading all the male justices to drop Mr. from their forms of address. In Canada, the appellation Mr/Madam Prime Minister and Mr./Madam Minister is "often heard informally" for Madam is an appropriate title in conversation with a female Madam Justice or Justice; in writing, a female justice is addressed as The Honourable Madame (Chief) Justice. In the Dear Judge or Dear...

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...

I suspect that the answer to this depends on region, so insights from multiple areas would be beneficial: It has been my impression that in the US addressing a woman as "Madam" is considered borderline-vulgar due to the term's usage as the title of a female proprietor of a brothel. Is it acceptable to use "Madam" when addressing a woman you do not know or should the alternative "Ma'am" (silent "D") be used? Does it depend on spoken vs. written communication? US usage may differ, but certainly in the UK I've never heard anyone suggest that the honorific "Madam" might give offense due to association with brothels. And the shortened "Ma'am" is considered acceptable when addressing the Queen (only after the first time, when you must say "Your Majesty"), so I'd say that's always okay in speech. But in writing it should always be "Madam", never"Ma'am". @MT_Head Interesting links, though I cannot see how they bolster your argument. "Diplomatic titles" makes only one mention of Madam + surname, the rest are all Madam + Title (Madam President etc, which I have not disagreed with). Your other link goes to a diary from 1790's colonial America which also refers to 'negro wenches' - hardly something to recommend it as a model for modern usage. Scorn all you like, I'd rather use my own common sense and experience than go running to google for dubious evidence. In modern use in ma'am has gained quite a bit more use than madam: In modern use in madam is slightly more popular than ma'am: A...