## Meanings
1. A female child.
2. A young woman.
3. A woman that someone is romantically involved with; a girlfriend (informal).
4. A friendly way to address a woman or female friend (informal).

## Examples
- The little girl was playing in the garden.
- A group of girls was waiting outside the cinema.
- He's bringing his girl to the party tonight.
- Hey, girl, I haven't seen you in ages!

## Synonyms
- babe
- bint
- bird
- cake
- chick
- colleen
- cutty
- damoiselle
- damsel
- elrig
- frail
- gal

## Antonyms
- boy
- woman

## Derived Forms
- acegirl
- air-girl
- all-girls
- antigirl
- apegirl
- attagirl
- b-girl
- bargirl
- batgirl
- beach-girl
- beachgirl
- bellgirl

## Related Forms
- miss

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: gerle
- Root: *gyrele
- Root: *gurilā

## Etymology
From Middle English gerle, girle, gyrle (“young person (boy or girl)”), perhaps from Old English *gyrele, from Proto-West Germanic *gurilā, from a zero-grade diminutive of *gaurā (“young child”) + *-ilā. Ultimately of unknown origin. Doublet of gal/gyal and gyaru. Cognates Cognate with Yola gurl (“child, girl”), German Gör, Göre (“brat, cheeky young child”), Low German Gör (“child”).

## AI Etymology
Girl comes from Middle English gerle, girle, gyrle (“young person (boy or girl)”), perhaps from Old English *gyrele, from Proto-West Germanic *gurilā, from a zero-grade diminutive of *gaurā (“young child”) + *-ilā. Ultimately of unknown origin. Doublet of gal/gyal and gyaru. Cognates Cognate with Yola gurl (“child, girl”), German Gör, Göre (“brat, cheeky young child”), Low German Gör (“child”). In current use, the main senses are “A female child” and “A young woman”.

## Topics
- People & Society
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