nubile

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   dated, chiefly of a young woman: considered old enough or eligible to marry

   The historian noted that the legal category of a nubile daughter reflected the period's marriage customs.

2. 2
   adj

   dated and often objectifying: sexually mature or attractive

   Modern editors may flag nubile when it reduces a young woman to sexual availability.

3. 3
   noun

   rare and often objectifying: a young woman regarded as marriageable or sexually attractive

   The satire exposes the older man's habit of describing every young woman as a nubile.

Borrowed through French nubile from Latin nubilis, 'marriageable,' from nubere, 'to marry or take a husband.' Later sexualized uses shifted the emphasis from legal or social marriageability to perceived attractiveness and are often objectifying in present-day contexts.

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