Dam (dăm), n. [OE. dame mistress, lady; also, mother, dam. See Dame.] 1. A female parent; — used of beasts, especially of quadrupeds; sometimes applied in contempt to a human mother.
Our sire and dam, now confined to horses, are a relic of this age (13th century)....Dame is used of a hen; we now make a great difference between dame and dam. T. L. K. Oliphant.
The dam runs lowing up and down,
Looking the way her harmless young one went. Shak.
2. A king or crowned piece in the game of draughts.