spinsterhood

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English spinster

Proto-Indo-European *keyt-der.

Proto-Germanic *haiduzder.

Proto-West Germanic *-haiduder.

Old English -hād

Middle English -hede

English -hood

English spinsterhood

From spinster + -hood.

Noun

spinsterhood (countable and uncountable, plural spinsterhoods)

1. The condition of being a spinster.
   • 2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, Penguin Books (2020), page 387:

     sheʼs long ago resigned herself to eternal spinsterhood, to a future without the joys of marriage and motherhood

2. The time during which one is a spinster.

Translations

condition of a spinster

• Finnish: vanhapiikuus
• Italian: zitelaggio, nubilato (it)
• Polish: staropanieństwo (pl) n
• Punjabi: ਕੁਆਰਪਣ m (kuārapaṇ)
• Spanish: solteronería