Carlos Grande
Maiden = Spinster ?? Could anyone explain me the difference between 'maiden' and 'spinster' ? Thank you in advance.
Jan 8, 2017 3:50 PM
Answers · 6
1
maiden is someone young and unmarried. spinster is someone old and unmarried (kind of an insult), and sometimes used as legal term.
January 8, 2017
I see that Su Ki is British, so there may be a slight distinction, but the word 'maiden' is almost exclusively archaic at least in the United States. And although some may know that it can refer to a virgin, 99% of the people I know would answer 'young girl' as to its meaning.
January 9, 2017
Okay Su.Ki. Thank you so much for your annotation!!! :D
January 8, 2017
It is NOT true that a 'maiden' is always young. 'Maiden' actually means 'virgin', and it has nothing at all to do with age. As a term equivalent to 'girl', the word 'maiden' became obsolete around hundred years ago. You will only meet it in old texts, poems and folk songs dating back several centuries. In relatively modern times, the only time you might meet the word 'maiden' to refer to a person is in the collocation 'maiden aunt' which to refers to the ELDERLY unmarried sister of one of your parents.
January 8, 2017
Maybe you could try your best and we can comment.
January 8, 2017
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