maiden

See also Maiden

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old English mæġden (“maiden, virgin, girl, maid, servant”), diminutive of mæġþ, mæġeþ (“maiden, virgin, girl, woman, wife”) via diminutive suffix -en, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs (“maid, virgin”), from Proto-Indo-European *maghu- (“fellow, bachelor”), equivalent to maid +‎ -en. Cognate with Dutch maagd (“virgin”), Old High German magad (“maiden”) (modern German Magd (“virgin”)), Old Irish mug (“slave”) and Albanian mag (“a hare's young, hinnulus”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmeɪdən/, X-SAMPA: /"meId@n/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪdən

Noun

maiden (plural maidens)

1. (now chiefly literary) A girl or an unmarried young woman.
2. A female virgin.

   She's unmarried and still a maiden.

3. (now dialectal) A man with no experience of sex, especially because of deliberate abstention.
   • 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XI:

     And for all women Sir Bors was a vergyne, sauff for one, that was the doughter of Kynge Braundegorys [...], and sauff for her, Sir Bors was a clene mayden.

4. A maidservant.
5. (now rare) An unmarried woman, especially an older woman.
6. A racehorse without any victory ('virgin record').
7. (historical) A Scottish counterpart of the guillotine.
8. (cricket) A maiden over.
9. (Wicca) Alternative form of Maiden.

Derived terms

• maidenhair
• maidenhead
• maidenhood
• maidenly, maidenliness
• maiden flight
• maiden voyage
• maiden name
• maiden of honor
• iron maiden

Related terms

• maid

Synonyms

• (unmarried (young) female): bachelorette

Translations

unmarried young female

• Armenian: օրիորդ (hy) (òriord) 
• Breton: merc'h (br) f, plac'h (br) f
• Bulgarian: госпожица (bg) (gos'pozhitsa) f 
• Czech: panna (cs) f, slečna (cs) f
• Dutch: juffrouw (nl) f, (poetic) maagd (nl) m and f, meisje (nl) m, jongedame (nl), vrijster (nl)
• Finnish: neiti (fi), neito (fi)
• French: jeune fille (fr) f, jeune femme (fr) f, demoiselle (fr) f, pucelle (fr) f (informal or dated)
• German: Jungfrau (de) f (virgin), Mädchen (de) n, Maid (de) f (dated or poetic)
• Hebrew: עלמה (he) f (almah)
• Hungarian: leány (hu)
• Irish: maighdean (ga) f ainnir (ga) f
• Italian: pulzella (it) f, ragazza (it) f

• Korean: 처녀 (ko), 아가씨 (ko)
• Navajo: chʼikę́ę́h
• Old English: mǣġþ (ang) f, mǣġden (ang) n, mǣġdenċild (ang) n
• Old Provençal: donzella
• Polish: panna (pl) f
• Russian: девушка (ru) (dévuška) f , девица (ru) (devíca) f , дева (ru) (déva) f 
• Scottish Gaelic: maighdeann (gd) f, ainnir (gd) f, (poetic) rìbhinn (gd) f, nighean (gd) f, òigh (gd) f, gruagach (gd) f
• Spanish: doncella (es) f (dated), señorita (es) f
• Swedish: jungfru (sv) c
• Taos: kwə́lena
• Welsh: merch (cy) f, rhiain (cy) f, morwyn (cy) f, geneth (cy) f
• Yiddish: מויד (yi) (moyd) f, מײדל (yi) (meydl) n

female virgin

• Armenian: կույս (hy) (kuys) 
• Czech: panna (cs) f
• Dutch: maagd (nl) m and f
• Finnish: neitsyt (fi), (archaic, poetic) impi (fi)
• French: vierge (fr) f, pucelle (fr) f (informal)
• German: Jungfrau (de) f
• Hebrew: בתולה (he) (betulah) f
• Hungarian: szűz (hu)

• Irish: maighdean (ga) f
• Navajo: chʼikę́ę́h
• Polish: dziewica (pl) f
• Portuguese: donzela (pt) f
• Russian: девственница (ru) (dévstvennica) f 
• Scottish Gaelic: maighdeann (gd) f, òigh (gd) f, ainnir (gd) f
• Swedish: jungfru (sv) c, oskuld (sv) c
• Yiddish: בתולה (yi) (bsule) f

(cricket) a maiden over

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: senioretta (ia)
• Italian: signorina (it) f, vergine (it) f
• Portuguese: senhorita (pt) f, donzela (pt) f

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дева (sh) f, дјева (sh) f

  Roman: deva (sh) f, djeva (sh) f, mladica (sh) f, moma (sh) f, mladojka (sh) f

• Romanian: domnișoară (ro) f
• Slovak: deva (sk) f
• Spanish: doncella (es) f
• Welsh: llancesig (cy) f, morwyn (cy) f, merch (cy) f, morwynig (cy) f, rhiain (cy) f

Adjective

maiden (not comparable)

1. Virgin.
2. (of a female, human or animal) Without offspring.
3. Like or befitting a (young, unmarried) maiden.
4. (figuratively) Describing a first occurrence or event.

   The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage.

   • 2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, BBC Sport:

     Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado took his maiden victory and Williams's first since 2004 in a strategic battle with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

5. (cricket) Describing an over in which no runs are scored.

Synonyms

• maidenly

Translations

virgin — see virgin

without offspring

• Dutch: kinderloos (nl)

like or befitting a (young, unmarried) maiden

describing a first occurrence or event

• Finish: neitsyt- (fi)
• French: inaugural (fr)
• Portuguese: primeiro (pt), inaugural (pt)

• Romanian: inaugural (ro) m
• Swedish: jungfru- (sv)

(cricket) describing an over in which no runs are scored

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: prime (ia), inaugural (ia)

Anagrams

• aidmen, Damien, demain, Manide, median, Median, medina, Medina, meidan

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Finnish

Alternative forms

• maitten

Noun

maiden

1. Genitive plural form of maa.

Anagrams

• median, Medina