different between damsel vs demoiselle

English

Alternative forms

• damoiselle, damosel, damozel (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English dameisele, from Old French damoisele, from Vulgar Latin *domnicella, a diminutive from Classical Latin domina (“mistress, lady”), from dominus, from *demh?-. Doublet of demoiselle, doncella, and donzella.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?dæmz?l/

Noun

damsel (plural damsels)

1. A young woman (of noble birth).
2. A girl; a maiden (without sexual experience).
3. A young woman who is not married.
4. An unmarried lady-in-waiting.
5. A chattering damsel (component of a mill).
   • 1843, The Magazine of Science, and Schools of Art (volume 4, page 263)

     The spout that conveys the grain from the hopper to the eye or centre of the upper millstone rests against the spindle, just at the damsel, and thus receives an alternate back and forward motion, […]

Derived terms

• damsel in distress
• damselfish
• damselfly
• riverdamsel

Translations

Anagrams

• damels, delams, lameds, medals

English

Etymology

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

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

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, Portuguese donzela. Doublet of donzelle.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d?.mwa.z?l/

Noun

demoiselle f (plural demoiselles)

1. damsel, maiden
2. miss
3. damselfly

Synonyms

• d^lle

Derived terms

• demoiselle d'honneur
• mademoiselle

Related terms

• damoiseau

Further reading

• “demoiselle” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).