doamnă
/ˈdo̯am.nə/
The Romanian word for lady is doamnă.
doamnă is a polite term for a woman. While it can translate to lady, it is most commonly used as a formal title equivalent to 'Mrs.' or 'Madam', particularly when addressing a married woman or showing formal respect.
Meaning: polite: woman (noun)
Which one should you use?
While doamnă serves as a polite way to say lady, it is often used as a title. For a more affectionate or informal way to say little lady or little girl, one might use fetiță.
How does it change in a sentence?
The plural nominative/accusative form of doamnă is doamnele (the ladies), and the plural genitive/dative form is doamnelor (of the ladies).
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈdo̯am.nə/. It has 2 syllables, with the stress on the 1st of 2.
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often mistakenly use doamnă to refer to any adult woman. In modern Romanian, doamnă specifically implies a level of formality or marital status, whereas femeie is the neutral term for woman.
Did you know?
- In religious contexts, Doamne is used as a direct address to God, as in the phrase Doamne, ajută-mă ('Lord, help me').
- The word doamnă shares a linguistic root with the English word 'domestic', as both derive from the Latin word for 'house'.
- The term doamnă is part of a historical social hierarchy, originally used to denote women of high noble status, much like the English word 'Duchess' or 'Lady'.
Examples in context
- Culpabilii au atacat o doamnă în vârstă.The perpetrators attacked an old lady.This sentence shows the use of doamnă when referring to an old lady.Tatoeba #13936707 by Ioan_Cristian, translation #13936705 by Ioan_Cristian
- Ce doamnă minunată!What a wonderful lady!This sentence demonstrates how to use doamnă to describe a wonderful lady.Tatoeba #8766487 by elenacristina260, translation #3046219 by Ricardo14
- Vă mulțumesc, d-na JohnsonThank you, Mrs. Johnson.
- Ce-ai făcut azi, fetiță?What did you do today, little lady?
Example conversation
Alexandru is introducing his colleague to Maria.
- AlexandruMaria, aceasta este doamnă Elena.Maria, this is lady Elena.
- MariaBună ziua, doamnă Elena.Good day, lady Elena.
- AlexandruEa este noua noastră primar.She is our new mayor.
- MariaÎmi pare bine de dumneavoastră.It is a pleasure to meet you.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry doamnă, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
