LADY, a word of Saxon origin, generally supposed to signify loaf-giver, the first part of the word klaf, a loaf, being preserved in the Saxon klaford, a lord. In ancient times it was the practice of the lady of the manor to distribute bread to the poor with her own hands at stated times. Tooker, however, derives the term from the verb blifian, to raise, and thus regards it as denoting a person raised to equality with her lord. Both derivations are honourable to our Saxon ancestors. As a title it belongs to the daughters of all peers above the rank of a viscount, but is extended by courtesy to the wives of knights.
LADY-DAY an immovable feast celebrated on the 25th of March, or the annunciation of the Holy Virgin.