There is no real difference at all
Between a lady-wife of high degree
Dishonest of her body, if she be,
And some poor wench, no difference but this:
That if so be they both should go amiss—
That since the gentlewoman ranks above
She therefore will be called his “lady-love,”
Whereas that other woman, being poor
Will be referred to as his wench or whore.
—The Manciple, The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Neville Coghill