“ DAME (through the Fr. from Lat. domina, mistress, lady, the feminine of dominus, master, lord) , properly a name of respect or a title equivalent to “lady,” now surviving in English as the legal designation of the wife or widow of a baronet or knight and prefixed to the Christian name and surname. It has also been used in modern times by certain societies or orders, e.g. the Primrose League, as the name of a certain rank among the lady members, answering to the male rank of knight. The ordinary use of the word by itself is for an old woman. ”

“ At the court of France, after the 17th century, Mademoiselle, without the name of the lady, was a courtesy title given to the eldest daughter of the eldest brother of the king, who was known as Monsieur. To distinguish the daughter of Gaston d’Orléans, brother of Louis XIII., from the daughter of Philippe d’Orléans, brother of Louis XIV., the former, Anne Marie Louise, duchesse de Montpensier, was called La Grande Mademoiselle, by which title she is known to history (see Montpensier, A. M. L., Duchesse de) . ”

“ At Eton College boarding-houses kept by persons other than members of the teaching staff of the school were known as “Dames’ Houses,” though the head might not necessarily be a lady. As a term of address to ladies of all ranks, from the sovereign down, “madam,” shortened to “ma’am,” represents the French madame, my lady.
“Damsel,” a young girl or maiden, now only used as a literary word, is taken from the Old French dameisele, formed from dame, and parallel with the popular dansele or doncele from the medieval Latin domicella or dominicella, diminutive of domina. ”