Maiden Meaning
/ˈmeɪdən/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA girl or an unmarried young woman.
nounA female virgin.
Sentence Examples
The Titanic sunk on its maiden voyage.
His maiden work established his reputation.
Mary went back to using her maiden name.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ gave the knight a flower as a sign of her affection.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ship completed its ____ voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and arrived safely at the port this morning.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English mayden, meiden, from Old English mæġden (“girl”), originally a diminutive of mæġeþ (“girl”) via diminutive suffix -en, from Proto-West Germanic *magaþ, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs. Equivalent to maid + -en.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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[…]"
— 1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum Quartum”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book XI (in Middle English), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC, leaf 289, recto; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC, page 577:
"It had been customary during the whole civil war, to decapitate state criminals by the instrument called the maiden; but Montrose was condemned to a more ignominious death , by a gibbet thirty feet high"
— 1832, Robert Chambers, The History of Scotland:
"a surprising old maiden lady"
— 1857–1859, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1858–1859, →OCLC:
"It was just the middle of October when I moved in with my maiden sister […]"
— 1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House:
"Haue you no modeſty, no maiden ſhame, / No touch of baſhfulneſſe?"
— c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 155, column 2:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ gave the knight a flower as a sign of her affection.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ship completed its ____ voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and arrived safely at the port this morning.