What's the verb for 'to confer the title of Dame upon'?

Solution 1:

There is no equivalent verb to "to knight" for a Dame. You need to use expressions like to honour someone with the title of Dame or do make someone a Dame:

Dame:

• a woman's name that is given in Britain as a special honour, usually for valuable work done over a long period, or a woman having this honour:

  • Dame Judy Dench.

  • She was made a dame before she died.

Honour (someone) with (something):

• To give someone public praise or a reward:
  • He was honoured with a knighthood.

(Cambridge Dictionary)

Solution 2:

"dub" seems to fit perfectly. (to dub someone a Knight or a Dame)

• dub (verb, transitive) - To honor with a new title or description, to invest with a title, name, or nickname TFD

• "Dame" - (In the UK) the title given to a woman with the rank of Knight Commander or holder of the Grand Cross in the Orders of Chivalry:

• Elizabeth Taylor was dubbed Dame Elizabeth by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999.
• In 1913 he was dubbed knight by King George V.

Solution 3:

I have to agree with the other answers that say there is no word that intrinsically means "be made into a Dame", but the word ennoble does include damehood as a possibility:

2: to raise to the rank of nobility
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