madonna
/məˈdɒnə/ noun, proper noun
Forms madonnas Madona
- noun A representation of the Virgin Mary.
- noun A morally pure woman.
- noun A lady.
- noun (skateboarding) A one-footed lien-to-tail trick, where the front foot is taken off and kicked out straight down behind the board.
- proper noun (Christianity, sometimes with definite article) Synonym of Mary, mother of Jesus, especially in Catholic contexts.
- proper noun A female given name from Italian.
- noun An artistic representation of the Virgin Mary, chiefly when holding the infant Jesus. “A beautiful example of this type of Madonna is the polyptych in the Museo Civico in Sansepolcro.”
Synonyms
Mary mother of Jesus Virgin Mary The Virgin Blessed Virgin Madonna Louise Ciccone
Etymology
Said to be named after the American singer Madonna.
From Italian madonna, from Old Italian ma (“my”) + donna (“lady”). The given name is derived from the English term, not used as a given name in Italy. Doublet of madam.
Webster’s 1913
- noun My lady; --a term of address in Italian formerly used as the equivalent of Madame, but for which Signora is now substituted.
- noun [pl. Madonnas (naz).]
Etymology [It. madonna my lady. See Dame, Donna, and cf. Madame, Monkey.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “madonna”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details