"Madam is the unabbreviated term for a married woman. The plural for this word is Mesdames. When writing a formal letter you would use Dear Madam, or Dear Madam Doe. If you are addressing an individual where there gender is not known, you would say Dear Sir or Madam. With formal salutations a colon is always placed after the madam, as in " Dear Madam Doe:" Formal salutations for madam can be
. found at: http://writing.lifetips.com/cat/56541/salutations/"
