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Mysteries of vernacular:

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Lady,

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woman.

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Lady is tied to a number of words

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that seem at first glance

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etymologically unrelated.

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She traces her roots back

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to the Old English words hlaf,

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which referred to a loaf of bread

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and is the direct ancestor of our modern word loaf,

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and daege,

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which meant maid

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and is the root of our word dairy,

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the place where the dairymaid works.

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Together, hlaf and daege became hlafdige,

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literally loaf maid,

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or, more figuratively, kneader of bread.

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As early as the ninth century,

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hlafdige was the name for a mistress of servants,

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or the female head of the household.

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The Old English word for a male head of household

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was hlafweard,

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a compound of hlaf, loaf,

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and weard,

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which meant keeper

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and is the word of modern words

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like ward and warden.

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Both hlafweard, the breadwinner,

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and hlafdige, the bread kneader,

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came to be titles of respect,

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referring to citizens of higher social standing.

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Through a process known as syncopation,

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both words lost their internal sounds

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to become lord and lady, respectively.

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Though still an expression of courtesy,

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lady has since moved

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down the ladder of social standing

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and is now often used

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to mean simply a woman.