different between maiden vs demoiselle

English

Etymology

From Middle English mayden, meiden, from Old English mæ?den (“maiden, virgin, girl, maid, servant”), diminutive of mæ?þ, mæ?eþ (“maiden, virgin, girl, woman, wife”) via diminutive suffix -en, from Proto-West Germanic *magaþ, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs (“maid, virgin”). Equivalent to maid +? -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?me?d?n/
• Rhymes: -e?d?n

Noun

maiden (plural maidens)

1. (now chiefly literary) A girl or an unmarried young woman.
2. A female virgin.

3. (obsolete, dialectal) A man with no experience of sex, especially because of deliberate abstention.
4. A maidservant.
5. A clothes maiden.
6. (now rare) An unmarried woman, especially an older woman.
7. (horse racing) A racehorse without any victory, i.e. one having a "virgin record".
8. (horse racing) A horse race in which all starters are maidens.
9. (historical) A Scottish counterpart of the guillotine.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wharton to this entry?)

10. (cricket) A maiden over.
11. (obsolete) A machine for washing linen.
12. (Wicca) Alternative form of Maiden

Synonyms

• (unmarried (young) female): bachelorette

Derived terms

Related terms

• maid

Translations

Adjective

maiden (not comparable)

1. Virgin.
   • 1857-1859, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Virginians

     a surprising old maiden lady
2. (of a female, human or animal) Without offspring.
3. Like or befitting a (young, unmarried) maiden.
4. (figuratively) Being a first occurrence or event.
5. (cricket) Being an over in which no runs are scored.
6. Fresh; innocent; unpolluted; pure; hitherto unused.
7. (of a fortress) Never having been captured or violated.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of T. Warton to this entry?)
8. (of a tree) Grown from seed and never pruned

Synonyms

• maidenly

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Damien, Eidman, Manide, Median, Medina, Midean, aidmen, demain, maenid, mained, median, medina, meidan

Finnish

Alternative forms

• maitten

Noun

maiden

1. genitive plural of maa

Anagrams

• median

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).