maiden

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈmeɪdn/ UK /ˈmeɪdn/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a young unmarried woman; first of its kind

The ship set off on its maiden voyage.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a young unmarried woman;... girl damsel lass virgin maid first initial

Opposites

matron wife

Word family

Derived forms maidenlymaidenhoodmaidenhead

Related forms maid

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

maiden voyage
the first journey made by a ship

Adjective + noun

Simplified etymology

Maiden is an Old English word whose ancient root also appears in Scottish and Irish Gaelic mac, “son,” and may originally have referred to a young person of either sex. In the Middle Ages it was shortened to maid; both forms came to mean a young woman, a virgin, or a female servant, though maid is now usual for the servant sense.

Etymology

From Old English maegden ('virgin, girl, maid'), diminutive of maeg ('kinswoman'), from Proto-Germanic *magadinam, diminutive of *magaths ('maid').

maegden Old English *magaths Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# maiden

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈmeɪdn/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈmeɪdn/

## Meanings
1. a young unmarried woman; first of its kind

## Examples
- The ship set off on its maiden voyage.

## Synonyms
- girl
- damsel
- lass
- virgin
- maid
- first
- initial

## Antonyms
- matron
- wife

## Derived Forms
- maidenly
- maidenhood
- maidenhead

## Related Forms
- maid

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: maegden
- Root: *magaths

## Etymology
From Old English maegden ('virgin, girl, maid'), diminutive of maeg ('kinswoman'), from Proto-Germanic *magadinam, diminutive of *magaths ('maid').

## AI Etymology
Maiden comes from Old English maegden ('virgin, girl, maid'), diminutive of maeg ('kinswoman'), from Proto-Germanic *magadinam, diminutive of *magaths ('maid'). The etymological trail includes Old English maegden, Proto-Germanic *magaths. The same word family includes maidenly, maidenhood, maidenhead, maid. Its current noun use means "a young unmarried woman; first of its kind".

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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