Dictionary

damsel en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• [ˈdɛːm.zɫ̩] (Australia)
• /ˈdæm.zəl/ (Australia)
• [ˈdɛəm.zɫ̩] (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /ˈdæm.zəl/ (General-American)
• /ˈdæm.zəl/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dem- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *dṓmder. Proto-Italic *domanos Latin dominus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin dominicus Proto-Indo-European *-lós Proto-Indo-European *-elós Proto-Italic *-elos Latin -lus Latin -ellus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂ Proto-Italic *-ā Latin -a Vulgar Latin *dominicella Vulgar Latin *domnicella Old French domnizelle Old French damoiselebor. Middle English dameisele English damsel 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.

Meanings

1. A young woman (of noble birth).
2. A girl; a maiden (without sexual experience).
3. A young woman who is not married.
4. An unmarried lady-in-waiting.
5. A young, attractive woman.
   • And here I might (if I followed the example of most travellers) launch out into a glowing description of the charms of these damsels, the elegant costumes they wore, and the gold and silver ornaments with which they were adorned. The jacket or body of purple gauze would figure well in such a description, allowing the heaving bosom to be seen beneath it, while "sparkling eyes," and "jetty tresses," and "tiny feet" might be thrown in profusely. But, alas! 1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 343:
6. A chattering damsel (component of a mill).
   • 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, […] 1843, The Magazine of Science, and Schools of Art, volume 4, page 263:

Forms

Deriveds

damselhood · damsel bug · damselfly · damsel in distress · elf-damsel · riverdamsel · damselfish

Translations (66)

ru ба́рышня (young woman of noble birth) · fr jeune femme (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · cy rhiain (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · oc donzèla (young woman of noble birth) · hu kisasszony (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · fi immyt (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · pl młoda dama (young woman of noble birth) · ga maighdean (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · he עלמה (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · de Mädchen (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · ru деви́ца (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · ga ainnir (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · gl doncela (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · hu úrhölgy (young woman of noble birth) · ru де́вочка (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · es muchacha (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · gd maighdeann (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · ro fecioară (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · ja 令嬢 (young woman of noble birth) · hu hajadon (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · oc domaisèla (young woman of noble birth) · cy merch (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · gl dama (young woman of noble birth) · cs (mladá) dáma (young woman of noble birth) · hu leány (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · fi neito (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · sv ungmö (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · hu leányasszony (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · fi impi (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · fr demoiselle (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · ru де́вушка (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · cs panna (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · gd ainnir (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · fi neito (young woman of noble birth) · cy geneth (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · hu hölgy (young woman of noble birth) · ru мадемуазе́ль (young woman of noble birth) · cmn 閨女 /闺女 (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · pl dziewica (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · ro fecior (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · br plac'h (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · gd nighean (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · es doncella (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · de Jungfrau (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · hu leányzó (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · hu lány (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · sv flicka (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · io damzelo (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · pt donzela (young woman of noble birth) · bg госпожица (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · ru да́мочка (young woman of noble birth) · da ungmo (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · pdt Mäakjen (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · es damisela (young woman of noble birth) · ja 乙女 (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · cs milostslečna (young woman of noble birth) · fr jeune fille (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · ru де́вушка (young woman of noble birth) · fi neitsyt (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · br merc'h (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · es damisela (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · ru де́вственница (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · gd rìbhinn (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · ga cailín (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · hu leányka (girl, maiden (without sexual experience)) · pt donzela (girl, maiden (without sexual experience))