mademoiselle

See also: Mademoiselle

English

Alternative forms

• mamzelle

Etymology

Borrowed from French mademoiselle.

Noun

mademoiselle (plural mademoiselles or mesdemoiselles)

1. Courtesy title for an unmarried woman in France or a French-speaking country.
2. (humorous or affected) A young woman or girl, especially one who is French or French-speaking.
   • 1964, Chuck Berry (lyrics and music), “You Never Can Tell”:

     It was a teenage wedding, and the old folks wished them well / You could see that Pierre did truly love the mademoiselle...

Translations

courtesy title for an unmarried woman in France or a French-speaking country

• French: mademoiselle (fr) f
• Japanese: マドモアゼル (madomoazeru)

• Russian: мадемуазе́ль (ru) f (madɛmuazɛ́lʹ), мадмуазэ́ль f (madmuazɛ́lʹ)

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French

Alternative forms

• Mademoiselle
• mam'zelle, mamzelle, m'moiselle (informal)

Etymology

ma +‎ demoiselle

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mad.mwa.zɛl/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

mademoiselle f (plural mesdemoiselles)

1. Miss (as a form of address)

Noun

mademoiselle f (plural demoiselles)

1. Miss (as a title with a name)

Usage notes

• Not used for an older woman unless she is clearly unmarried.
• As of February 21, 2012, the use of the word mademoiselle is prohibited from use in official forms and registries in France.
• The form madelle (a blend of madame and mademoiselle) has been suggested as a replacement, but never caught on. Instead, madame is used regardless of marital status.

Synonyms

• M^lle
• Mlle.

Derived terms

• croque-mademoiselle

Descendants

• → Alemannic German: Màmsel, Màmselala
• → English: mademoiselle, → mamzelle (from mamzelle)
• → German: Mamsell (from mamzelle)
• → Turkish: matmazel

See also

• madame
• Mademoiselle
• mondamoiseau
• Ms.

Further reading

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