Maiden

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Pronunciation: /ˈmeɪdən/

Definitions

1. A young woman who has not married ; the first occurrence or initial attempt of something
2. An unmarried female, typically young and often innocent ; the earliest example or initial trial of an event or object
3. A female who has not engaged in marriage, often young ; the inaugural or initial instance of an action or event

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "maiden" is that it is a diminutive. Its root, Old English "mæġeþ", already meant "girl", and the suffix "-en" was added to it to make a smaller, younger version: a "little girl". Over the centuries the diminutive sense faded, and the word settled into its modern meaning of an unmarried young woman. The base word survives in English as "maid", which has followed a similar path, from a general word for a girl to a term for a female servant and, in older usage, an unmarried woman. "Maiden" therefore shows the same semantic drift, but by a different route: it keeps the youthful, unmarried sense that "maid" once shared with it. The word also works as an adjective, as in "maiden voyage" or "maiden speech", meaning first or earliest, a sense that grew naturally from the idea of a first or untouched state.

Synonyms: young woman, virgin

Antonyms: matron