Dictionary

Madonna en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /məˈdɒnə/

Etymology

From Italian madonna, from Old Italian ma (“my”) + donna (“lady”). The given name is derived from the English term, not used as a given name in Italy. Doublet of madam.

Meanings

1. An artistic representation of the Virgin Mary, chiefly when holding the infant Jesus.
   • A beautiful example of this type of Madonna is the polyptych in the Museo Civico in Sansepolcro.
   • So many Madonnas were produced during the Renaissance that it became the habit to distinguish them by any peculiarity. 1913, “Art Galleries of Florence”, in The World’s Progress: With Illustrative Texts from Masterpieces of Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Modern European and American Literature, Fully Illustrated, volume IX, Chicago, Ill.: The Delphian Society, page 114:
2. A morally pure woman.
   • […] the mothers who, like Sebastian’s mother in Notorious or Mitch’s mother Lydia in The Birds, block such a transference, or by potential love-objects who are, themselves, Madonnas, whores, or otherwise thinly disguised maternal figures. 2008, Paul Gordon, Dial “M” for Mother: A Freudian Hitchcock, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, →ISBN, page 205:
   • In sexual politics the view of women as either Madonnas or whores limits women’s sexual expression, offering two mutually exclusive ways to construct a sexual identity. 2019, Chris Kelly, Carmen Hahn, Clinical Psychology, ED-Tech Press, published 2020, →ISBN, page 129:
   • Sparing no one in her response to her interviewer’s questions about the ERA, she alludes to divisions within the women’s movement, referring to the factions as “Madonnas, whores, housewives, and lesbians.” 2013, Devorah Heitner, Black Power TV, Duke University Press, →ISBN, page 79:
   • The Madonnas are the mothers to our children, the pillars of our families, and the goddesses of our communities. The Madonnas shun the dark side of human sexuality and banish the whores to hell. We put the Madonnas on a pedestal, and we can’t think of them as being sexual or sexy because they must be pure. They must be virginal like the Madonna herself. 2008, Maureen Canning, Lust, Anger, Love: Understanding Sexual Addiction and the Road to Healthy Intimacy, Sourcebooks, Inc., →ISBN, page 182:
   • “Men,” I said, with a tone of disgust. “Halal circles, haram circles, good, bad, Madonnas, whores, goats, penises, it’s all the same.” 2000, Deborah Copaken Kogan, Shutterbabe: Adventures in Love and War, Villard Books, →ISBN, page 52:

Forms

Relateds

Mona

Translations (2)

ca marededeu (representation of Virgin Mary) · fi madonnankuva (representation of Virgin Mary)

Madonna en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /məˈdɒnə/

Etymology

From Italian madonna, from Old Italian ma (“my”) + donna (“lady”). The given name is derived from the English term, not used as a given name in Italy. Doublet of madam.

Meanings

1. (sometimes, with-definite-article) Synonym of Mary, mother of Jesus, especially in Catholic contexts.
2. A female given name from Italian.
   • MADONNA(S) Yes. (They look at each other with surprise. The room goes silent.) MR. STEIN Two Madonnas? (Pause.) MR. STEIN Did either of you know God? EIGHTIES MADONNA I knew of Him. BIBLICAL MADONNA We had a Son together. MR. STEIN […] I’m going to have to ask you to leave. (The eighties Madonna gets up with a smile and then without uttering another word flounces out of the room loudly humming the tune ‘Like a Virgin’.) 2013 February, Alan Baggett, God’s Will, →ISBN, page 39:
   • But celebrities actually have a weak effect on baby names. As of 2000, the pop star Madonna had sold 130 million records worldwide but hadn't generated even the ten copycat namings―in California, no less―required to make the master index of four thousand names from which the sprawling list of girls' names on page 227 was drawn. 2005, Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics, Allen Lane, published 2005, →ISBN, page 184:
   • We feel bound to add, however, that it is not very likely, in the usual chances of events, that such names as Alaric Attila Watts should have met in matrimony with those of Zillah Madonna Wiffen; and an unkind world may suggest a mystification somewhere. 1835 June, Fraser's Magazine, volume XI, page 652:

Forms

Deriveds

Madonnaesque · Madonnamania · Black Madonna · Madonnabe · Madonna-like · Madonna blue · Madonnahood · Madonna-whore complex · Madonna braid · madonna · Madonnawise · Madonna piercing · Madonna lily · Madonnaish

Synonyms

mother of Jesus · Mary

Translations (10)

bg Мадо́на (Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Our Lady Note: This is only for direct translations of "Madonna." Titles that literally mean or other titles in the language in question should be listed at those entries.) · de Madonna (Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Our Lady Note: This is only for direct translations of "Madonna." Titles that literally mean or other titles in the language in question should be listed at those entries.) · ru Мадо́нна (Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Our Lady Note: This is only for direct translations of "Madonna." Titles that literally mean or other titles in the language in question should be listed at those entries.) · it Madonna (Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Our Lady Note: This is only for direct translations of "Madonna." Titles that literally mean or other titles in the language in question should be listed at those entries.) · mt Madonna (Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Our Lady Note: This is only for direct translations of "Madonna." Titles that literally mean or other titles in the language in question should be listed at those entries.) · eo Madono (Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Our Lady Note: This is only for direct translations of "Madonna." Titles that literally mean or other titles in the language in question should be listed at those entries.) · fr Madone (Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Our Lady Note: This is only for direct translations of "Madonna." Titles that literally mean or other titles in the language in question should be listed at those entries.) · pl Madonna (Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Our Lady Note: This is only for direct translations of "Madonna." Titles that literally mean or other titles in the language in question should be listed at those entries.) · hu Madonna (Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Our Lady Note: This is only for direct translations of "Madonna." Titles that literally mean or other titles in the language in question should be listed at those entries.) · scn Madonna (Mary, mother of Jesus — see also Mary, Our Lady Note: This is only for direct translations of "Madonna." Titles that literally mean or other titles in the language in question should be listed at those entries.)