memsahib

[ mem-sah-ib, -eeb ]

/ ˈmɛmˌsɑ ɪb, -ib /

(formerly, in India) a term of respect for a married European woman.

Origin of memsahib

1855–60; < Hindi, equivalent to mem (< English ma'am) + sāhib master (< Arabic ṣāḥib)

He has to keep us three of course—me and the Memsahib and the other Eurasian.

The Works of Rudyard Kipling: One Volume Edition |Rudyard Kipling
But this Memsahib wore an almost opaque veil, a veil which she lifted only to eat and when in her room.

Caravans By Night |Harry Hervey
Clearly he could not deliver a letter to a memsahib who was not.

The Pool in the Desert |Sara Jeanette Duncan
"No ice got it, Memsahib," volunteered the khansaman in his best English, learned from a teacher in the Station bazaar.

Banked Fires |E. W. (Ethel Winifred) Savi

It was the strange Memsahib, the khansammah observed to himself.

Caravans By Night |Harry Hervey

memsahib

/ (ˈmɛmˌsɑːɪb, -hɪb) /

(formerly in India) a term of respect used of a European married woman

C19: from ma'am + sahib