damen

Damen is a term with several distinct uses in German, Dutch, and in proper nouns. In German, Damen is the plural of Dame and means “ladies”; it is used in phrases addressing a group of women, such as Meine Damen und Herren. In Dutch, the equivalent plural is dames, though the form Damen appears in personal or corporate names carried from German or other origins.

Damen Shipyards Group, commonly known as Damen, is a Dutch multinational shipbuilding company. Founded in 1927, it is headquartered in Gorinchem and operates a network of shipyards and service facilities around the world. The company designs and constructs a broad range of vessels—patrol craft, dredgers, tugboats, container ships, and ferries—and provides maintenance and naval support services. Damen is noted for modular, standardized designs intended to shorten lead times and lower unit costs.

In other uses, Damen appears in place names and transit. In Chicago, Illinois, Damen Avenue is a major street, and the Damen station on the Brown Line serves the area. The word also occurs in various corporate and institutional names, where it retains its sense of formality or links back to its Germanic roots.