mad1 (mad)

[ mad1+ (mad), v.; pret. and pp. madded, ppr. mad ding. [ME. madden (pret. madded ), You'd mad the patient'st body in the world. B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, iv. 1. I took my Lady Pen home, and her daughter Pegg; and, after dinner, I made my wife show them her pictures, which did mad Pegg Pen, who learns of the same man. Pepys , Diary, II. 290. II. in trans. 1. To be mad; go mad. Wel nygh for the fere he shulde madde. Chaucer , Complaint of Mars, 1. 253. "Alas!" quath the freir, "almost y madde in mynde, To sen houz this Minoures many men begyleth." Piers Plowman's Crede (E. E. T. S.), 1. 280. 2. To rage; fight madly. But for none hate he to the Grekes hadde; Ne also for the rescous of the town, Ne made him thus in armes for to madde. Chaucer, Troilus, i. 479. Lady, but moving in respectable society; prefixed to a surname, equivalent to Mrs. Compare mistre . Good people all, with one accord, Lament for Madam Blaize. Goldsmith, Elegy on Mrs. Mary Blaize. Here [in Plymouth, Ma achusetts) and in some neighbouring places it has been and still [1807] is the practice to prefix to the name of a deceased female of some consideration, as the parson's, the deacon's, or the doctor's wife, the title of madam . E. A. Kendall, Travels, II. 44. ( Pick ering .) (b) See the quotation. The use mentioned is not uncommon in all parts of the United States. The title of Madam is sometimes given here [in Boston), and generally in the South, to a mother whose son has married, and the daughter-in-law is then called "Mrs." By this means they avoid the inelegant phraseology of "old Mrs. A," or the Scotch "Mrs. A, senior." Sir C. Lyell , Second Visit, ix. ( Bartlett .) 2. A lady; a woman of fashion or pretension often used with a suggestion of disparagement: as, a conceited madam ; city madams . - Miscellany madamt. See miscellany. The Madam, the mistre ; the head of a household. [Vulgar, U. S.] madam (mad'am), v. t. [ madam , n.] To addre as madam. Dryden, Wild Gallant, ii. 2. Madam me no madam. I am reminded of my vowed obedience; Madam'd up perhaps to matrimonial perfection. Richardson, Clari a Harlowe, VIII. 303. ( Davies .) madame (ma-däm' or mad'am), n.; pl. mesdames (mā-däm'). [ F.: see madam , the naturalized E. form.] 1. Madam; my lady: a term of addre used like madam , but more formal or affected. Abbreviated Mme . In Egypt, dear madame , it is considered unwomanly for a lady to show more of her face than one eye behind a veil. G. W. Curtis , Harper's Mag., XLIV. 775. 2. Formerly, in France, a term of addre to a woman of rank, whether married or single. See mademoiselle , 1 and 2. madam-townł, n. a country. The chief or finest town of IMG:content-0045.png:[blocks in formation] I must, forsooth, be forced To give my hand, opposed against my heart, Unto a mad - brain rudesby, full of spleen. Shak ., T. of the S., iii. 2. 10. mad-brained (mad'brand), a . Same as mad brain . Others sent me engers & tokens, which very many of the mad- brayned yong men accepted and beleeued for good sooth. Stow , The West Saxons.