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My Lord and My Lady

French translation: messire et gente dame

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:My Lord and My Lady
French translation:messire et gente dame

15:37 Aug 17, 2005
English to French translations [Non-PRO]
Social Sciences - History / Medieval Salutations
English term or phrase: My Lord and My Lady
The people working in medieval castle would address the knight and his lady with "My Lord" or "My Lady". How did the French address their "Chevalier" and his lady?
Louise Normandin
messire et gente dame
Explanation:
Messire: dénomination honorique réservée aux grands seigneurs (=monseigneur) Source: Petit Robert 1

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Note added at 5 hrs 56 mins (2005-08-17 21:34:20 GMT)
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euh... honoriFIque, bien sûr
Selected response from:

PFB (X)
Local time: 00:52
Grading comment
"Messire et gente dame" is the best answer for the situation. At Medieval Time castle in South Carolina USA, all employees address the guests with my lord or my lady. Might as well greet the French speaking ones with the noble expression. Thanks a million.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +5Monseigneur; Madame
Nick Lingris
3 +2messire et gente dame
PFB (X)
3 +1mon Seigneur et ma Dame
Elodie Rousseau
3Monseigneur
Jack Doughty


Discussion entries: 3





  

Answers


15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
my lord and my lady
Monseigneur


Explanation:
Don't know about My Lady. Dumas used "Milady" in 2The Three Musketeers" for one character, but I don't think that would have been the usual term.
I agree you'd probably do better asking this as an English-French question.

Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:52
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
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36 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
my lord and my lady
Monseigneur; Madame


Explanation:
But it depends on the form of address.
Please consult this: [http://www.almanachdegotha.com/2002/correctform/french.html]

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Note added at 59 mins (2005-08-17 16:36:30 GMT)
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For detailed information on usage, consult Jean-François Féraud\'s Dictionaire critique de la langue française (Marseille, Mossy 1787-1788):
[http://colet.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/dico1look.pl?strippedhw=mo...]

Nick Lingris
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:52
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in GreekGreek

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Nina Khmielnitzky
15 mins
  -> Merci, Nina.
neutral  Elodie Rousseau: But your references are from the 18th century or actual, I think that in the Middle Age, they were still used apart.
59 mins
  -> We don't know how the asker wants to use them. He wants to know the forms of address. If he uses the terms in, say, a novel he writes about the M.A. today, he won't be using old spellings, especially if they look odd amidst English text.
agree  Vicky Papaprodromou
1 hr
  -> Merci bien.
agree  Christiane Bujold: J'opterais plus pour la formulation Dame, comme dans l'expression Gente dame
4 hrs
agree  EdhelDil: mon Seigneur / Gente Dame
8 hrs
agree  Jean-Gabriel Piette
11 hrs
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33 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
my lord and my lady
mon Seigneur et ma Dame


Explanation:
Heloise-Abelard
L'image est relayée au début du moyen âge par Boèce dans les livres II et III
... lorsque, devenue l'épouse de mon Seigneur, tu as commencé d'être ma Dame ...
pot-pourri.fltr.ucl.ac.be/itinera/ Enseignement/Glor2330/Heloise/notes.htm - 117k

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Note added at 1 hr 34 mins (2005-08-17 17:12:04 GMT)
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I think that in the Middle Age, these expression were still used separated. The unified form came later on, around the 17th or so.

Elodie Rousseau
Mexico
Local time: 16:52
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  sporran: with small s (capital s = Christ), also sire ou dame + first name
3 hrs
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
my lord and my lady
messire et gente dame


Explanation:
Messire: dénomination honorique réservée aux grands seigneurs (=monseigneur) Source: Petit Robert 1

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs 56 mins (2005-08-17 21:34:20 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

euh... honoriFIque, bien sûr

PFB (X)
Local time: 00:52
Works in field
Native speaker of: French
PRO pts in category: 28
Grading comment
"Messire et gente dame" is the best answer for the situation. At Medieval Time castle in South Carolina USA, all employees address the guests with my lord or my lady. Might as well greet the French speaking ones with the noble expression. Thanks a million.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Marie Gomes
26 mins
  -> Merci, Marie
agree  Alfa Trans (X)
1 day 20 hrs
  -> Merci, Marju
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