maiden English · revision 39422

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 971|origins=gem-pro *magaþs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmeɪdən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|maiden]], [[inh|ang|mæġden|t=girl, virgin, maidservant]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a diminutive of [[m|ang|mæġþ|t=virgin, girl, woman]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Bosworth-Toller) from the diminutive [[gem-pro|*magadīną]], also the source of [[goh|magatīn]],^(Hoad 1986)^(Ayto 2005)^(OED 2026) built on [[m|gem-pro|*magaþs|t=maiden, virgin]], which gave [[osx|magath]], [[ofs|maged]], [[m|goh|magad]] (modern [[de|Magd]], with its diminutive [[m|de|Mädchen]]), and [[got|𐌼𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌸𐍃|tr=magaþs|t=virgin]].^(OED 2026)^(Klein 1966)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[m|ang|magu|t=son, young man]] and [[m|got|𐌼𐌰𐌲𐌿𐍃|tr=magus|t=boy]];^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Watkins reconstructs a root [[ine-pro|*maghu-|t=young person of either sex]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024) also seen in [[sga|mug|t=boy, servant]].^(ODE 2010)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A girl or young unmarried woman, and a virgin: Old English, in Ælfric's ''Glossary'' and the laws of Cnut.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) Barnhart dates ''mægden'' to before 971 and the contracted ''mæden'' to about 950.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old English ''maiden'' also meant a maidservant, a sense that lasted in regional use.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) In Middle English it could describe a man who abstained from sex (before 1225),^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and the shortened form [[maid]] arose in the 12th century, the two words then running side by side.^(Ayto 2005)^(Cresswell 2021) The adjective, virgin or unmarried, is from about 1300;^(Etymonline) the figurative sense "first, untried", as in a ''maiden voyage'' or ''maiden speech'', is from the 1550s.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) ''Maiden name'' is recorded from the 1680s and the racing ''maiden'', a horse that has never won, from 1760.^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023) The word also named things: an Edinburgh beheading machine like a guillotine (1565),^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and in northern English dialect a washerwoman's dolly and a clothes horse.^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023) In cricket a ''maiden'' is an over in which no runs are scored.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Old English – a girl, a virgin, a maidservant.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * before 1225 – a man who abstains from sex.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1300 – adjective: virgin, unmarried.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1550s – adjective: first, untried.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1565 – the Edinburgh beheading machine.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1680s – ''maiden name''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1760 – of a racehorse that has never won.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1856 – northern English: a clothes horse.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(archaic or literary)'' A girl or young unmarried woman; a [[virgin]].^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(horse racing)'' A horse that has never won a race.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(cricket)'' A maiden [[over]], in which no runs are scored.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # ''(Northern English dialect)'' A frame for drying clothes, a [[clothes horse]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Unmarried: ''a maiden aunt''.^(MWU 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # First of its kind; [[untried]]: ''the ship's maiden voyage''.^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+ # Not yet used, tested or captured.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[maidenish]]

+ * [[maidenship]]

+ * [[maidenhair]]

+ * [[handmaiden]]

+ * [[maidenhead]]

+ * [[maidenhood]]

+ * [[maidenliness]]

+ * [[maidenly]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[maid]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}