English
lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting comes from English waiting ‘attendance, service’.
- English1500–presentwaiting‘attendance, service’
- Englishearliest quotation 1751lady-in-waiting
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- English1500–presentwaiting‘attendance, service’
- Englishearliest quotation 1751lady-in-waiting
Earliest quotation: 1751, Frederick the Great, Frederick III. the First King of Prussia: “[T]he electreſs [Sophia Charlotte of Hanover] was heard to…”
A compound of lady + in + waiting ‘attendance, service’
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- ‘to knead’
Proto-Germanic *daigijǭ ‘kneader’
Old English dǣġe ‘female servant; kneader’
Old English hlǣfdīġe ‘mistress of a household’
Middle English lady ‘a lady’
English lady
Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’
Proto-Germanic *in
Proto-West Germanic *in
Old English in
Middle English in ‘inside’
English in
Every English word from English waiting
Today it means
noun A lady, often a noblewoman, in the household of a queen, princess, or other woman of higher rank who attends her as a personal assistant, generally a role considered an honour.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / English waiting / lady-in-waiting