Dame Joan Sutherland

1 8.6

An Australian soprano known for her powerful high voice

proper noun

: Dama Joan Sutherland

Many critics regard Dame Joan Sutherland as one of the greatest sopranos of the twentieth century.

Examples

Dame Joan Sutherland was celebrated for her incredible range.
Recordings featuring Dame Joan Sutherland continue to inspire new generations of opera singers.
The opera house paid tribute to Dame Joan Sutherland with a special concert.
I had the pleasure of seeing Dame Joan Sutherland perform live.
Many critics regard Dame Joan Sutherland as one of the greatest sopranos of the twentieth century.
Recordings featuring Dame Joan Sutherland continue to inspire new generations of opera singers.
The opera house paid tribute to Dame Joan Sutherland with a special concert.

Synonyms

Joan Sutherland

vsDame Joan Sutherland

1 6.7

An Australian opera singer famous for a powerful voice and bel canto roles

has identical meaning but adds an honorific title in the name

Surface Forms

Dame Joan Sutherland main

Morphology

dame + Joan + Sutherland

This is a proper name combining an honorific ('Dame') with a personal name. Knowing 'dame' only signals a titled woman; the names 'Joan' and 'Sutherland' carry no descriptive lexical meaning, so the specific information that she was an Australian operatic soprano cannot be derived from the constituents.

Etymology

Dame Joan Sutherland was an Australian opera singer known for a very strong, very high voice. The title Dame shows she received a big official 'honour', and because she was one of the best 'sopranos', her name now stands for a top opera singer.