spinster

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   dated and often disparaging: an unmarried woman, especially one regarded as past the usual age for marriage

   The census described her as a spinster living with two sisters.

2. 2
   noun

   historical: a woman whose occupation was spinning thread or yarn

   The household employed a spinster to turn the prepared wool into yarn.

Simplified etymology

Spinster originally meant a woman whose occupation was spinning, work often done at home by unmarried women. Because the occupational label was regularly placed after such women’s names, it gradually became an official term for an unmarried woman.

From Middle English spynnestere, 'a woman who spins,' formed from spin + the feminine agent suffix -ster. Because spinning was a common livelihood for unmarried women, the occupational term became a legal and social label for an unmarried woman. The modern use often sounds dated or insulting.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
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