Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Madonna"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Madonna \Ma*don"na\, n. [It. madonna my lady. See {Dame},
{Donna}, and cf. {Madame}, {Monkey}.]
1. My lady; -- a term of address in Italian formerly used as
the equivalent of Madame, but for which Signora is now
substituted. Sometimes introduced into English. --Shak.
2. [pl. {Madonnas} (n[.a]z).] A picture of the Virgin Mary
(usually with the babe).
The Italian painters are noted for drawing the
Madonnas by their own wives or mistresses. --Rymer.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
Madonna
n 1: the mother of Jesus; Christians refer to her as the Virgin
Mary; she is especially honored by Roman Catholics [syn:
{Mary}, {Virgin Mary}, {The Virgin}, {Madonna}]
2: United States pop singer and sex symbol during the 1980s
(born in 1958) [syn: {Madonna}, {Madonna Louise Ciccone}]
Additional Hypertext Webster Gateway Lookup
Gateway by dict@stokkie.net
stock only wrote the gateway and does not have any control over the contents;
see the Webster Gateway FAQ,
and also the Back-end/database links and credits.