a most revered lady, Lady of … (also used figuratively) · for the feminine name and Holy Mary's epithet see Δέσποινα (Déspoina)
çekim: çoğul δέσποινες · tamlayan δέσποινας
köken: Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek δέσποινα (déspoina, “lady of the house, mistress”), female counterpart to δεσπότης (despótēs). Compare to Δέσποινα f (Déspoina, “Lady (epithet for Holy Mary); feminine name”).
köken: From Italian madonna, from Old Italian ma (“my”) + donna (“lady”). It was first attested in 1552 and its meaning was primarily (Italian) woman. Its use in the sense of the Virgin Mary was attested much later, in 1844.
köken: Derived, through M(e)a Dom(i)na, from mea (“my, of mine”) + domina (“lady”). By surface analysis, mea + donna. Cognate with Italian and Neapolitan Madonna.