What does "frau" mean?

Used as a courtesy title before the surname of a (typically married) German-speaking woman.

What is a synonym for "frau"?

Common synonyms include: dame, daughter of eve, distaff, domina, dona, donna.

/fɹaʊ/ noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Used as a courtesy title before the surname of a (typically married) German-speaking woman.
"G. von Hoffmann’s Die Ochsenmenuette offered Frau von Berckel as Therese, Scherer as Istock, Lotti as Eduard, and Frauen Schmidt and Esden, and Graff, Lehmann and Kress in minor rôles."
2
A woman, especially a German woman.
"To Germantown, Pa., the German frauen carried their domestic industry of the hand knitting of woolen hose, and before 1775 there were one hundred and fifty knitting frames at Germantown and in the vicinity of the Brandywine; […]"
3
a German courtesy title or form of address for an adult woman wordnet

"The Russians are very surprised that Frau Merkel is going to meet in Moscow with the Kremlin's fosterlings who pose as political opposition."

Etymology 1

From German Frau.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Frau. Doublet of frow, vrou, and vrouw.