maiden
pronunciation
How to pronounce maiden in British English:
UK [ˈmeɪdn]
How to pronounce maiden in American English:
US [ˈmeɪdn]
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- Noun:
- an unmarried girl (especially a virgin)
- (cricket) an over in which no runs are scored
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- Adjective:
- serving to set in motion
Word Origin
- maiden
- maiden: [OE] Maiden goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *magadiz ‘young (sexually inexperienced) woman’, which is also the source of German mädchen ‘girl’. Its diminutive form, *magadīnam, passed into Old English as mægden, the antecedent of modern English maiden. Maid is a 12th-century abbreviation.
- maiden (n.)
- Old English mægden, mæden "maiden, virgin, girl; maid, servant," diminutive of mægð, mægeð "virgin, girl; woman, wife," from Proto-Germanic *magadinom "young womanhood, sexually inexperienced female" (cognates: Old Saxon magath, Old Frisian maged, Old High German magad "virgin, maid," German Magd "maid, maidservant," German Mädchen "girl, maid," from Mägdchen "little maid"), fem. variant of PIE root *maghu- "youngster of either sex, unmarried person" (cognates: Old English magu "child, son, male descendant," Avestan magava- "unmarried," Old Irish maug "slave").
- maiden (adj.)
- "virgin, unmarried," c. 1300, from maiden (n.). The figurative sense of "new fresh, first" (as in maiden voyage) is first recorded 1550s. Maiden name is from 1680s.
Antonym
Example
- 1. This vintage print shows the titanic shortly before leaving on her maiden voyage in 1912 .
- 2. On august 10th , after years of secretive work , the chinese navy launched its first aircraft-carrier on its maiden voyage .
- 3. Whenever it takes place , the maiden cruise of the varyag will mark a milestone in china 's return to great power .
- 4. Asplund was 5 years old in april 1912 , when the titanic hit an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage from england to new york .
- 5. After christening the ship and completing its maiden voyage , the navy asked for an additional $ 5.3 million to correct problems found during sea trials .