lady [OE] The root meaning of lady was ‘kneader of bread’. Old English hlafdige, from which the modern word developed, comes from an early form of *loaf and a word meaning ‘knead’ from which dough also derives. The corresponding male form is *lord, in Old English hlafweard ‘keeper of bread’. In spite of the humble associations of baking, a lady in Anglo-Saxon times was a powerful woman who ruled over a household and made its staple food. These days a certain type of lady meets during the day in expensive restaurants—they are the ladies who lunch. The source of this expression is the title of a 1970 song by Stephen Sondheim from the musical Company, which pokes fun at members of the affluent charity fund-raising set.