Spinster
1Spinster — Spin ster, n. [Spin + ster.] 1. A woman who spins, or whose occupation is to spin. [1913 Webster] She spake to spinster to spin it out. Piers Plowman. [1913 Webster] The spinsters and the knitters in the sun. Shak. [1913 Webster] 2. A man who… …
2spinster — mid 14c., female spinner of thread, from M.E. spinnen (see SPIN (Cf. spin)) + stere, feminine suffix. Spinning commonly done by unmarried women, hence the word came to denote an unmarried woman in legal documents from 1600s to early 1900s, and by …
3Spinster — (engl., »Spinnerin«), lediges Frauenzimmer, »alte Jungfer« …
4spinster — meaning an unmarried woman, has overtones that vary from disapproving to offensive, unlike bachelor which still tends to have positive and even romantic associations. Both words have been replaced by single [person] in the official wording of… …
5spinster — ► NOUN chiefly derogatory ▪ an unmarried woman, typically an older woman beyond the usual age for marriage. DERIVATIVES spinsterhood noun spinsterish adjective. ORIGIN originally in the sense «woman who spins» …
6spinster — [spin′stər] n. [ME < spinnen, to SPIN + STER] 1. a woman who spins thread or yarn 2. a) a woman who is not married, divorced, or widowed (used esp. in legal documents) b) a middle aged or older woman who has never married spinsterhood n …
7Spinster — Old maid redirects here. For other uses, see Old Maid (disambiguation). A poem entitled It won t be my fault if I die an Old Maid , containing the lines Remember no thought to a girl is so dread / As the terrible one I may die an Old Maid. A… …
8spinster — UK [ˈspɪnstə(r)] / US [ˈspɪnstər] noun [countable] Word forms spinster : singular spinster plural spinsters old fashioned an insulting word for a woman who is not married and is past the age when women usually get married …
9spinster — noun Spinster is used before these nouns: ↑aunt …
10spinster — spin|ster [ˈspınstə US ər] n old fashioned [Date: 1600 1700; Origin: spinster woman who spins (14 20 centuries), from spin] an unmarried woman, usually one who is no longer young and seems unlikely to marry …
