demoiselle

English

Banded demoiselle (damselfly of the family Calopterygidae),

Etymology

Borrowed from French demoiselle. The bird is so called on account of the grace and symmetry of its form and movements.

Noun

demoiselle (plural demoiselles)

1. A damselfly of the family Calopterygidae.
2. A young lady; a damsel; a lady's maid.
3. The Numidian crane (Grus virgo).

   Synonym: demoiselle crane

Synonyms

• (damselfly): broad-winged damselfly

Translations

Calopterygidae

• Finnish: neidonkorento (fi)
• German: Prachtlibelle f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Navajo: tániilʼáítsʼóóz bitʼaʼ ntsaaígíí

---

French

Alternative forms

• damoiselle

Etymology

From Old French damoisele, from Vulgar Latin *domnicella, diminutive of Latin domina. Compare Spanish doncella and damisela, Italian donzella and damigella.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /də.mwa.zɛl/

• audio:

  (file)

Noun

demoiselle f (plural demoiselles)

1. damsel, maiden
2. miss
3. damselfly

Synonyms

• d^lle

Derived terms

• mademoiselle

Related terms

• damoiseau

Further reading

• “demoiselle”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.