damsel
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English dameisele, from Old French damoisele, from Vulgar Latin *domnicella, a diminutive from Classical Latin domina (“mistress, lady”), from dominus, from *demh₂-. Doublet of demoiselle, doncella, and donzella.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈdæm.zəl/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈdæm.zəl/, [ˈdɛəm.zɫ̩]
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈdæm.zəl/, [ˈdɛːm.zɫ̩]
Noun
damsel (plural damsels)
- A young woman (of noble birth).
- A girl; a maiden (without sexual experience).
- A young woman who is not married.
- An unmarried lady-in-waiting.
- A chattering damsel (component of a mill).
- 1843, The Magazine of Science, and Schools of Art, volume 4, page 263:
- The spout that conveys the grain from the hopper to the eye or centre of the upper millstone rests against the spindle, just at the damsel, and thus receives an alternate back and forward motion, […]
Derived terms
Translations
young woman of noble birth
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girl, maiden (without sexual experience)
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Anagrams
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