maiden
English
Etymology
From Middle English maiden, meiden, 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 (Mädchen or Mädel (“young girl, lass, lassie”), Magd (“maidservant”)), Old Irish mug (“slave”), and Albanian mag (“a hare's young, hinnulus”).
Pronunciation
Noun
maiden (plural maidens)
- (now chiefly literary) A girl or an unmarried young woman.
- A female virgin.
- She's unmarried and still a maiden.
- (obsolete, dialectal) A man with no experience of sex, especially because of deliberate abstention.
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter IV, in Le Morte Darthur, book XI::
- As for that said sire Bors I wille be shryuen with a good wylle / Soo syr Bors was confessyd / and for al wymmen sir Bors was a vyrgyne / sauf for one / that was the doughter of kynge Brangorys / and on her he gat a child that hyghte Elayne / and sauf for her syre Bors was a clene mayden
- A maidservant.
- A clothes maiden.
- (now rare) An unmarried woman, especially an older woman.
- (horse racing) A racehorse without any victory, i.e. one having a "virgin record".
- (horse racing) A horse race in which all starters are maidens.
- (historical) A Scottish counterpart of the guillotine.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Wharton to this entry?)
- (cricket) A maiden over.
- (obsolete) A machine for washing linen.
- (Wicca) Alternative form of Maiden
Synonyms
- (unmarried (young) female): bachelorette
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
unmarried young female
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female virgin
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(cricket) a maiden over
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Adjective
maiden (not comparable)
- Virgin.
- (Can we date this quote by William Thackeray and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- a surprising old maiden lady
- 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House:
- It was just the middle of October when I moved in with my maiden sister […]
- (Can we date this quote by William Thackeray and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- (of a female, human or animal) Without offspring.
- Like or befitting a (young, unmarried) maiden.
- (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- Have you no modesty, no maiden shame?
- (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- (figuratively) Being a first occurrence or event.
- The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage.
- After Edmund Burke's maiden speech, William Pitt the Elder said Burke had "spoken in such a manner as to stop the mouths of all Europe" and that the Commons should congratulate itself on acquiring such a member.
- 2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado took his maiden victory and Williams's first since 2004 in a strategic battle with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
- (cricket) Being an over in which no runs are scored.
- Fresh; innocent; unpolluted; pure; hitherto unused.
- (of a fortress) Never having been captured or violated.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of T. Warton to this entry?)
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Macaulay to this entry?)
- (of a tree) Grown from seed and never pruned
Synonyms
Translations
virgin — see virgin
without offspring
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like or befitting a (young, unmarried) maiden
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describing a first occurrence or event
(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. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
Anagrams
Finnish
Alternative forms
Noun
maiden
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms suffixed with -en (diminutive noun)
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/eɪdən
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English literary terms
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English dialectal terms
- English terms with rare senses
- en:Horse racing
- English terms with historical senses
- Requests for quotations/Wharton
- en:Cricket
- en:Wicca
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- Requests for date/William Thackeray
- English terms with quotations
- Requests for date/Shakespeare
- Requests for quotations/T. Warton
- Requests for quotations/Macaulay
- English adjectives ending in -en
- en:Female
- en:People
- Finnish non-lemma forms
- Finnish noun forms