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Webster 1913 Edition

Maiden

Maid′en

(mād′’n)
,
Noun.
[OE.
maiden
,
meiden
, AS.
maegden
, dim. of AS.
maegð
, fr.
mago
son, servant; akin to G.
magd
,
mädchen
, maid, OHG.
magad
, Icel.
mögr
son, Goth.
magus
boy, child,
magaps
virgin, and perh. to Zend.
magu
youth. Cf.
Maid
a virgin.]
1.
An unmarried woman; a girl or woman who has not experienced sexual intercourse; a virgin; a maid.
She employed the residue of her life to repairing of highways, building of bridges, and endowing of
maidens
.
Carew.
A
maiden
of our century, yet most meek.
Tennyson.
2.
A female servant.
[Obs.]
3.
An instrument resembling the guillotine, formerly used in Scotland for beheading criminals.
Wharton.
4.
A machine for washing linen.

Maid′en

,
Adj.
1.
Of or pertaining to a maiden, or to maidens; suitable to, or characteristic of, a virgin;
as,
maiden
innocence
.
“Amid the maiden throng.”
Addison.
Have you no modesty, no
maiden
shame ?
Shakespeare
2.
Never having been married; not having had sexual intercourse; virgin; – said usually of the woman, but sometimes of the man;
as, a
maiden
aunt
.
“A surprising old maiden lady.”
Thackeray.
3.
Fresh; innocent; unpolluted; pure; hitherto unused.
“Maiden flowers.”
Shak.
Full bravely hast thou fleshed
Thy
maiden
sword.
Shakespeare
4.
Used of a fortress, signifying that it has never been captured, or violated.
T. Warton. Macaulay.
Maiden assize
(Eng. Law)
,
an assize which there is no criminal prosecution; an assize which is unpolluted with blood. It was usual, at such an assize, for the sheriff to present the judge with a pair of white gloves.
Smart.
–
Maiden name
,
the surname of a woman before her marriage.
–
Maiden pink
.
(Bot.)
See under
Pink
.
–
Maiden plum
(Bot.)
,
a West Indian tree (
Comocladia integrifolia
) with purplish drupes. The sap of the tree is glutinous, and gives a persistent black stain.
–
Maiden speech
,
the first speech made by a person, esp. by a new member in a public body.
–
Maiden tower
,
the tower most capable of resisting an enemy.
–
maiden voyage
the first regular service voyage of a ship.

Maid′en

,
Verb.
T.
To act coyly like a maiden; – with it as an indefinite object.
For had I
maiden’d
it, as many use.
Loath for to grant, but loather to refuse.
Bp. Hall.
Maiden grass
,
the smaller quaking grass.
–
Maiden tree
.
See
Ginkgo
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Maiden

MA'IDEN

, n.
1.
An unmarried woman, or a young unmarried woman; a virgin.
2.
A female servant.
3.
It is used in composition, to express the feminine gender, as in maid-servant.

MA'IDEN

,
Noun.
A maid; also, an instrument for beheading criminals, and another for washing linen.

MA'IDEN

,
Adj.
Pertaining to a young woman or virgin; as maiden charms.
1.
Consisting of young women or virgins.
Amid the maiden throng.
2.
Fresh; new; unused.
He fleshed his maiden sword.

MA'IDEN

,
Verb.
I.
To speak and act demurely or modestly.

Definition 2024

Maiden

Maiden

See also: maiden, mäiden, and Mäiden

English

Noun

Maiden ‎(plural Maidens)

  1. (Wicca) One of the triune goddesses of the Lady in Wicca alongside the Crone and Mother representing a girl or a young woman
    • 2002, A.J. Drew, Wicca for Couples: Making Magick Together, page 90
      ...different stages of life as represented by our Lady as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, as well as our Lord as Master, Father, and Sage.
    • 2004, Aurora Greenbough, Cathy Jewell, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Spells and Spellcraft, page 9
      The Lady is often thought of as having three aspects: Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

Antonyms

Anagrams

German

Noun

Maiden f

  1. plural of Maid

maiden

maiden

See also: Maiden, mäiden, and Mäiden

English

Noun

maiden ‎(plural maidens)

  1. (now chiefly literary) A girl or an unmarried young woman.
  2. A female virgin.
    She's unmarried and still a maiden.‎
  3. (obsolete, dialectal) A man with no experience of sex, especially because of deliberate abstention.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter iv, in Le Morte Darthur, book XI:
      As for that said sire Bors I wille be shryuen with a good wylle / Soo syr Bors was confessyd / and for al wymmen sir Bors was a vyrgyne / sauf for one / that was the doughter of kynge Brangorys / and on her he gat a child that hyghte Elayne / and sauf for her syre Bors was a clene mayden
  4. A maidservant.
  5. (now rare) An unmarried woman, especially an older woman.
  6. (horse racing) A racehorse without any victory ('virgin record').
  7. (historical) A Scottish counterpart of the guillotine.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Wharton to this entry?)
  8. (cricket) A maiden over.
  9. (obsolete) A machine for washing linen.
  10. (Wicca) Alternative form of Maiden

Derived terms

Related terms

Synonyms

Translations

Adjective

maiden ‎(not comparable)

  1. Virgin.
    • William Thackeray
      a surprising old maiden lady
    • 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House
      It was just the middle of October when I moved in with my maiden sister […]
  2. (of a female, human or animal) Without offspring.
  3. Like or befitting a (young, unmarried) maiden.
    • Shakespeare
      Have you no modesty, no maiden shame?
  4. (figuratively) Being a first occurrence or event.
    The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage.
    After Edmund Burke's maiden speech, William Pitt the Elder said Burke had "spoken in such a manner as to stop the mouths of all Europe" and that the Commons should congratulate itself on acquiring such a member.
    • 2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport:
      Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado took his maiden victory and Williams's first since 2004 in a strategic battle with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.
  5. (cricket) Being an over in which no runs are scored.
  6. Fresh; innocent; unpolluted; pure; hitherto unused.
    • Shakespeare
      maiden flowers
    • Shakespeare
      Full bravely hast thou fleshed / Thy maiden sword.
  7. (of a fortress) Never having been captured or violated.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of T. Warton to this entry?)
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Macaulay to this entry?)
  8. (of a tree) Grown from seed and never pruned

Synonyms

Translations

Anagrams

Finnish

Alternative forms

Noun

maiden

  1. Genitive plural form of maa.

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English maiden, meiden, from Old English mæġden ‎(“maiden, virgin, girl, maid, servant”), diminutive of mæġþ, mæġeþ ‎(“maiden, virgin, girl, woman, wife”) via diminutive suffix -en, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs ‎(“maid, virgin”), from Proto-Indo-European *maghu- ‎(“fellow, bachelor”), equivalent to maid +‎ -en. Cognate with Dutch maagd ‎(“virgin”), Old High German magad ‎(“maiden”), modern German (Mädchen or Mädel ‎(“young girl, lass, lassie”), Magd ‎(“maidservant”)), Old Irish mug ‎(“slave”), and Albanian mag ‎(“a hare's young, hinnulus”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmeɪdən/
  • Rhymes: -eɪdən

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