Dictionary

maidenhair en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈmeɪdənhɛː/ (UK)
• /ˈmeɪdənhɛəɹ/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

From maiden + hair.

Meanings

1. (poetic, uncountable) A woman's pubic hair.
   • She turns and her small breasts are firm in the fading light, the flower of her navel, the darkening delta of her maidenhair and her thighs rising out of the water, the water tiny golden gifts against her skin 2013, John F. Deane, Snow Falling on Chestnut Hill: New and Selected Poems:
   • Some said they'd seen her over by Death's-Door, with bloodstains on her dress, which was so white and transparent they were seized with shame and fear at the faint beauty of her breasts and the eternal modesty of her maidenhair. 1987, Pierre Clitandre, Cathedral of the August Heat, page 152:
   • He fingered shreds of hair, her maidenhair, her mermaid's, into the bowl 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:
   • His fingers tore at her maidenhair. Gasping, she recoiled for long enough to allow him entry. 1979, Georgianna Bell, Passionate Jade, page 326:
   • She grabbed at her maidenhair as the garment eluded her frantic grasp and formed a puddle of cloth at her feet. 1989, Robert Solotaroff, Bernard Malamud: A Study of the Short Fiction, page 116:
2. (countable, uncountable) Either of two species of genus Adiantum of fern with delicate, hair-like stalks, especially Adiantum capillus-veneris.
   • Among herbs that have traditionally been considered to possess aphrodisiac virtue are, maidenhair, navelwort, anemone, wild poppy, valerian, cyclamen, male fern, pansy, periwinkle. 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 115:
   • Our common Maidenhair does from a number of hard black fibres, send forth a great many blacking shining brittle stalks, hardly a span long [...]. 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society, published 2007, page 178:
3. (Canada, US, countable, regional, uncountable) Either of two ericaceous plants: creeping snowberry (Gaultheria hispidula) or checkerberry (G. procumbens).

Forms

Deriveds

maidenhair moss · maidenhair vine · climbing maidenhair fern · northern maidenhair · maidenhair tree · maidenhair spleenwort

Synonyms

maidenhair fern (fern)

Translations (52)

ar كُزْبَرَة الْبِئْر (fern) · ca capil·lera (fern) · ga cos dhubh (fern) · uk адіант (fern) · mi makawe tapairu (fern) · sh góspīn vlásak (fern) · uk вене́рин во́лос (fern) · uk адиа́нтум (fern) · pt avenca (fern) · sl adiantum (fern) · de Frauenhaar (fern) · axm ձարխոտ (fern) · cy gwallt y forwyn (fern) · grc πολύτριχον (fern) · sl venerini lāsci (fern) · sv adiantumsläkte (fern) · sk adiantum (fern) · la capillus Veneris (fern) · haw ʻiwaʻiwa (fern) · bg вене́рин ко́съм (fern) · de Venushaar (fern) · ko 공작고사리 (fern) · sk venušin vlas (fern) · fr capillaire (fern) · fi neidonhiussaniainen (fern) · ru адиа́нтум (fern) · ru вене́рин во́лос (fern) · sh adiantum (fern) · bg богоро́дичен ко́съм (fern) · nl venushaar (fern) · ro părul-fetei (fern) · tr baldırıkara (fern) · mi huruhuru tapairu (fern) · cmn 鐵線蕨 /铁线蕨 (fern) · it capelvenere (fern) · fr adiante (fern) · pl złotowłos (fern) · fi neidonadiantumi (fern) · ca falzilla (fern) · ary قزيبرة البير (fern) · pl niekropień (fern) · mt tursin il-bir (fern) · de Frauenhaarfarn (fern) · cs netík (fern) · grc ἀδίαντον (fern) · kk шолпаншаш (fern) · ga folt bé (fern) · xdc phithophthethela (fern) · vo ladiant (fern) · el αδίαντο (fern) · la adiantum (fern) · bg адиантум (fern)