1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dam

DAM. (1) (A common Teutonic word, cf. Swed. and Ger. damm, and the Gothic verb faurdammjan, to block up), a barrier of earth or masonry erected to restrain, divert or contain a body of water, particularly in order to form a reservoir. (2) (Fr. dame, dame; Lat. domina, feminine of dominus, lord, master), the mother of an animal, now chiefly used of the larger quadrupeds, and particularly of a mare, the mother of a foal.