puella

Latin

Etymology

From puellus (“a little boy”), contracted from puerulus (“a little boy, a little slave”) the diminutive of puer (“boy”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /puˈel.la/, [puˈɛlːʲä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /puˈel.la/, [puˈɛlːä]

• Audio (Classical):

  (file)

Noun

puella f (genitive puellae); first declension

1. a girl, a lass, a maiden; a female child

   Parvola puella.

   A young girl.

   Pueri atque puellae.

   Boys and girls.

   Pueri innuptaeque puellae.

   Boys and unmarried maidens.

2. (poetic) a sweetheart, a mistress, a beloved maiden

   Cara mea puella.

   My beloved girl.

3. (in jest) a kitten
4. a young woman, a young wife
5. (rare) a female slave

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	puella	puellae
Genitive	puellae	puellārum
Dative	puellae	puellīs
Accusative	puellam	puellās
Ablative	puellā	puellīs
Vocative	puella	puellae

Synonyms

• (girl): fēmella

Antonyms

• (girl): puer

Derived terms

• puellam pario

Related terms

• puellāris
• puellula
• puer
• puera
• puerīliter
• puerīlis

References

• “puella”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “puella”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• puella in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• puella in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.