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单词 maiden
释义

maidenn.adj.

Brit. /ˈmeɪdn/, U.S. /ˈmeɪdən/
Forms: Old English mæden, Old English mægden, Old English–early Middle English mæiden, Old English (Northumbrian)– maiden, early Middle English mædene, early Middle English mægdon, early Middle English mæidene, early Middle English maȝȝdenn ( Ormulum), early Middle English maidain, early Middle English meden, early Middle English meidan, early Middle English meiden, early Middle English meidene, early Middle English meydene, Middle English madane, Middle English madyne, Middle English maidane, Middle English maidene, Middle English maidyn, Middle English maydene, Middle English maydn, Middle English mayndyn, Middle English meyden, Middle English 1600s 1800s maden, Middle English–1500s madun, Middle English–1500s madyn, Middle English–1500s maidan, Middle English–1500s maidin, Middle English–1500s maidon, Middle English–1500s maydan, Middle English–1500s maydin, Middle English–1500s maydon, Middle English–1500s maydyn, Middle English–1600s mayden, 1500s maynden; regional 1800s– maaiden, 1800s– meaden; also Scottish pre-1700 madan, pre-1700 madane, pre-1700 madayne, pre-1700 maddin, pre-1700 madeene, pre-1700 madein, pre-1700 maden, pre-1700 madin, pre-1700 mading, pre-1700 madne, pre-1700 madyn, pre-1700 madyne, pre-1700 madynn- (inflected form and in derivatives), pre-1700 maidden, pre-1700 maidin, pre-1700 maidinge, pre-1700 maþen, pre-1700 mayden, pre-1700 maydin, pre-1700 maydine, pre-1700 maydyn, pre-1700 meadin; 1800s mydhen (Irish English). Plural early Middle English mædene, early Middle English maidene, early Middle English maidenen, early Middle English meidene, Middle English maidenes, Middle English maidnes (in a late copy), Middle English– maidens. N.E.D. (1904) also records a form of the beginning of the word Middle English–1500s majd-. See also note at maid n.1
Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.
Etymology: Cognate with Old High German magatīn (Middle High German magetīn ) < a Germanic diminutive (see -en suffix1) of a word meaning ‘maiden, girl’, represented by Old English mægeð , mægð , Old Frisian maged , megith , Middle Dutch māghet (Dutch maagd ), Old Saxon magath (Middle Low German māget ), Old High German magad (Middle High German magt , German Magd maidservant), Gothic magaþs maid, virgin; probably related to the word for ‘boy, young man’ represented by may n.3See maid n.1 for discussion of the semantic overlap of maiden and maid . See also maid n.1 for discussion of the Middle English plural forms. With sense A. 2b compare Hellenistic Greek παρθένος (masculine) (New Testament) and post-classical Latin virgo.
A. n.
I. Senses referring to human beings.
1.
a. A girl; a young (unmarried) woman; = maid n.1 2a. Also: †a female infant (obsolete). Now chiefly literary, archaic, and regional.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [noun]
daughterOE
maidenOE
young womanOE
mayc1175
burdc1225
maidc1275
wenchc1290
file1303
virginc1330
girla1375
damselc1380
young ladya1393
jilla1425
juvenclec1430
young person1438
domicellea1464
quean1488
trull1525
pulleta1533
Tib1533
kittyc1560
dell1567
gillian1573
nymph1584
winklota1586
frotion1587
yuffrouw1589
pigeon1592
tit1599
nannicock1600
muggle1608
gixy1611
infanta1611
dilla1627
tittiea1628
whimsy1631
ladykin1632
stammel1639
moggie1648
zitellaa1660
baggagea1668
miss1668
baby1684
burdie1718
demoiselle1720
queanie?1800
intombi1809
muchacha1811
jilt1816
titter1819
ragazza1827
gouge1828
craft1829
meisie1838
sheila1839
sixteenc1840
chica1843
femme1846
muffin1854
gel1857
quail1859
kitten1870
bud1880
fräulein1883
sub-debutante1887
sweet-and-twenty1887
flapper1888
jelly1889
queen1894
chick1899
pusher1902
bit of fluff1903
chicklet1905
twist and twirl1905
twist1906
head1913
sub-deb1916
tabby1916
mouse1917
tittie1918
chickie1919
wren1920
bim1922
nifty1923
quiff1923
wimp1923
bride1924
job1927
junior miss1927
hag1932
tab1932
sort1933
palone1934
brush1941
knitting1943
teenybopper1966
weeny-bopper1972
Valley Girl1982
the world > people > person > child > girl > [noun]
maiden-childeOE
maidenOE
maidc1275
maid-childc1275
wenchc1290
thernec1300
lassc1325
maidenkinc1330
child-womana1382
girlc1400
pucelle1439
maidkin1440
mawther1440
mop1466
woman-child?1515
bonnea1529
urchina1535
kinchin-mort1567
dandiprat1582
prill1587
sluta1592
little girl1603
maggie1603
tendril1603
squall1607
childa1616
filly1616
vriester1652
miss1668
gilpie1720
lassie1725
laddess1768
jeune fillea1777
bitch1785
girly?1786
gal1795
ladyling1807
missikin1815
colleen1828
girleen1833
snowdrop1833
pinafore1836
chica1843
fillette1847
charity-girl1848
urchiness1852
Mädchen1854
gel1857
pusill1884
backfisch1888
girly-girly1888
cliner1895
tittie1918
weeny1929
bobby-soxer1944
OE Ælfric Gloss. (St. John's Oxf.) 301 Puella, mæden oððe geong wifman.
OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) ix. 24 Gað heonun; nys þys mæden [c1200 Hatton mægdon] dead soðlice ac heo slæpð.
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4107 To clippenn swa þe cnapess shapp. & toffrenn lac forr maȝȝdenn.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 2214 He nom of þan monkunne þreo swiðe feire mæidene.
a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2749 Hirdes wulden ðe maidenes deren, Oc moyses ðor hem gan weren.
a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) 4966 Alle men sal ryse þan þat ever had life, Man and woman, mayden and wyfe.
c1480 (a1400) St. Thomas Apostle 58 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 130 A madyne com amange þam all of hebrow borne In-to þe land.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) v. l. 580 In Lanryk duelt a gentill woman thar, A madyn myld.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 1363 Maydons for mornyng haue þere mynde loste.
1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates George Plantagenet f. lxxvi A mayden of a noble house and olde.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) i. iii 145 (Gods mercie maiden) dos it curd thy blood To say I am thy mother? View more context for this quotation
1710 Tatler No. 252. ⁋5 We..have a Boy and a Girl: The Lad Seventeen, the Maiden Sixteen.
1781 Westm. Mag. 9 709 No Pantaloon with peaked beard to-night Shall screaming boys and trembling maidens fright.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xxiv. 173 A vigorous English maiden might have ascended the [ice] fall without much difficulty.
1887 C. Bowen tr. Virgil Æneid ii, in tr. Virgil in Eng. Verse 121 Round it advance in procession unwedded maiden and boy.
1908 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xxxv. 395 With..Stella Maynard and..Priscilla Grant, she soon became intimate, finding the latter pale spiritual-looking maiden to be full..of mischief.
1925 Windsor Mag. Mar. 398/2 Nothing could be more charming than a Nauruan maiden.
1968 A. Diment Great Spy Race i. 8 I was one of the new knights..come to rescue the lower-middle class maiden from the dragon of boredom.
1991 Twenty Twenty Spring 90/1 Celtic myths, with their depiction of the ‘Triple Goddess’ of maiden, mother and crone.
b. the answer to a maiden's prayer: an eligible bachelor. Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > fitness for marriage > [noun] > marriageable person > man desirable or ideal as husband
Mr Right1796
fairy prince1840
Prince Charming1855
the answer to a maiden's prayer1926
1801 in Catal. Prints: Polit. & Personal Satires (Brit. Mus.) (1947) VIII. 52 The maid of all-work's prayer!!]
1926 G. H. Maines & B. Grant Wise-crack Dict. 5/1 Answer to a maiden's prayer, He's good looking.
1935 Mademoiselle Aug. 15 Here, you Freshmen, Seniors, et al, is the answer to a maiden's prayer.
1957 J. Fleming Maiden's Prayer ii. 109 You're the answer to a maiden's prayer, dear heart. No need for you to do a stroke of work, you can marry money and live the life of a gentleman.
1971 J. Brunner Honky in Woodpile xi. 83 I was still in college. Thought he was the greatest..answer to a maiden's prayer!
1987 Financial Times 19 May 26/4 The US dollar's fall..has made US companies much more attractive to foreign publishers... ‘It's the answer to a maiden's prayer,’ says..an analyst.
2.
a. A virgin; spec. the Virgin Mary (see also maiden Mary n. at Compounds 1b). (Not always clearly distinguishable from senses A. 1a, A. 3.) Cf. maid n.1 1a. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > virginity > [noun] > a virgin
maidenmaneOE
maidenOE
maida1225
virgina1393
vestal1593
virgo intacta1726
fresh meat1896
virguncule1911
cherry1928
virgie1930
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > Mary > [noun]
ladyOE
queenOE
MaryOE
St MaryOE
starOE
Our LadylOE
lemana1225
maidena1225
maid Marya1225
heaven queenc1225
mothera1275
maiden Maryc1300
Star of the Seac1300
advocatrixc1390
mother-maidc1390
flower, gem, etc., of virginitya1393
the Virgina1393
mediatricea1400
paramoura1400
salver14..
advocatrice?a1430
Mother of God?a1430
way of indulgence?a1430
advocatessc1450
mother-maidenc1450
rose of Jerichoa1456
mediatrixc1475
viergec1475
addresseressa1492
fleur-de-lis?a1513
rosine?a1513
salvatrice?a1513
saviouress1563
mediatressa1602
advocatress1616
Christotokos1625
Deipara1664
V.M.1670
Madonnaa1684
the Virgin Mother1720
Panagia1776
Mater Dolorosa1800
B.V.M.1838
dispensatrixa1864
Theotokos1874
dispensatress1896
OE Laws of Cnut (Nero) ii. lii. §1. 346 Gif hwa mæden nydnæme [L. si quis uiolenter uirginem opprimat].
c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 2102 Þeȝȝ wenndenn þatt ȝho wære wif Acc ȝho wass maȝȝdenn clene.
a1225 MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 77 Þet hali meiden onswerede and seide quomodo [etc.].
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 1093 A clene maydyn I am for hym and for all othir.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 2940 Þat comes but to harme, Gers maidnes be mart, mariage fordone.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iv. i. 88 Why then are you no maiden . View more context for this quotation
a1639 W. Whately Prototypes (1640) ii. xxxiv. 157 Though Shechem had done the Maiden this wrong to devirginate her.
1855 Fraser's Mag. 51 92 The maiden is pure all mays above.
1871 H. James Watch & Ward in Atlantic Monthly Dec. 705/1 Don't go back to Roger in a hurry! You're not the unspotted maiden you were but two short days ago.
1904 Hymns Anc. & Mod. No. 55 A maiden pure and undefiled Is by the Spirit great with child.
1928 F. W. S. Browne tr. T. H. van de Velde Ideal Marriage ii. iv. 57 Within this space is the sexual orifice... In maidens this is closed by the hymen.
1965 G. Greene in New Statesman 8 Oct. 518/3 ‘The definition of a maiden in common use’, Doctor Crombie replied,..‘is an unbroken hymen’.
b. A man without experience of sexual intercourse, esp. by reason of abstention; = maid n.1 1b. Frequently in clean maiden. In later use English regional (Yorkshire) (rare).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > virginity > [noun] > a virgin > specifically male
maidena1225
maidc1300
virginc1330
a1225 (c1200) Vices & Virtues (1888) 131 (MED) Ich ȝew habbe bewedded ane were clane maiden, þat is, to Criste.
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 995 (MED) Of bodi was he mayden clene.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. ix. 173 Maydenes and maydenes macche ȝow togideres.
c1450 Jacob's Well (1900) 277 (MED) He was a munk and priour of his hows, & a clene mayden.
a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) II. 816 Sir Percyvale..was a parfyte mayden.
1497 J. Alcock Mons Perfeccionis (de Worde) D iij Ye grete nombre of his apostles were maydens.
1883 Yorks. Weekly Post 8 Sept. 7/6 Maid, maiden, a person of a chaste life..in reference to either sex.
3. A maidservant, a female attendant (cf. maid n.1 3a, maiden of honour n. at Compounds 1b). In later use English regional (now rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > [noun] > woman or girl
maidenOE
schelchenec1000
womanOE
maidc1300
ancillec1366
wench1380
child-womana1382
maidservanta1382
serving-womana1398
servantessa1425
servant maid?a1450
woman servant1450
servitrice1477
administress1483
ministressa1500
serving maid?1529
maiden-servant1533
servitrix1566
miskin-fro1585
servant girl1658
girl1668
necessary womanc1689
scout1708
servitress1827
ancilla1871
OE Blickling Homilies 159 Forþon þu nu sceawa þines mæg [d] enes eaþmodnesse.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 8965 Hire maidens broȝte hire clene water... Hou miȝte of an quene be a more milsfol dede?
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. v. 630 Charite and Chastite ben his chief maydenes.
1434 in F. J. Furnivall Fifty Earliest Eng. Wills (1882) 97 To Aneys hir mayden, a russet kyrtell.
1568 (a1500) Freiris Berwik 245 in W. T. Ritchie Bannatyne MS (1930) IV. 268 He bad þe madin kindill on þe fyre.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1895) II. 113 He requyres in mariage ane of the Quenes madnes.
1611 Bible (King James) Psalms cxxiii. 2 As the eyes of a maiden..[looke] vnto the hand of her mistresse. View more context for this quotation
1863 A. Trollope Rachel Ray I. i. 16 One little maiden Mrs. Ray employed, and a gardener.
1896 G. Chanter Witch of Withyford 1 Mother she looked after the maidens both fore and after the poor lady's death.
†4. An unmarried woman, a spinster, esp. one of mature years; cf. maid n.1 4. Also †to go maiden: to remain single (obsolete). See also old maiden n. Cf. sense B. 1a. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > unmarried person(s) > unmarried woman > [noun]
maid1603
maiden lady1628
bachelora1637
feme sole1714
spinstress1716
maidena1802
spin1842
sworn virgin1910
?c1625 in E. Beveridge & J. D. Westwood Fergusson's Sc. Prov. (1924) No. 1565 Ye ar lyk ane old maden ye look aloft.
a1628 J. Carmichaell Coll. Prov. in Scots (1957) No. 971 It is a sair lyfe, to be lang a maidin and syne a preists wyfe.
1764 J. Boswell Jrnl. 8 Sept. in Boswell on Grand Tour (1953) I. 84 I knew the meaning of it, and yet repeated it several times to an old maiden in the company.
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker I. 8 A maiden of forty-five, exceedingly starched, vain, and ridiculous.
1775 Tender Father I. 139 This gentlewoman was an old maiden, and possessed many particularities.
a1802 Cruel Sister xiv, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1882) I. i. 128/2 Your cherry cheeks and your yellow hair Garrd me gang maiden evermair.
1883 Sunday Mercury (N.Y.) 23 Sept. 6/4 ‘I want to sue a man for breach of promise,’ said a maiden of the vintage of 1842, coming into a lawyer's office.
II. Senses referring to other living things, inanimate objects, activities, etc.
5. Any of several fishes: spec. = maid n.1 8, maiden-skate n. at Compounds 1b, (U.S.) the scup, Stenotomus chrysops. Now regional.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > unspecified types > [noun]
whalec950
tumbrelc1300
sprout1340
squame1393
codmop1466
whitefish1482
lineshark?a1500
salen1508
glaucus1509
bretcock1522
warcodling1525
razor1530
bassinatc1540
goldeney1542
smy1552
maiden1555
grail1587
whiting1587
needle1589
pintle-fish1591
goldfish1598
puffin fish1598
quap1598
stork1600
black-tail1601
ellops1601
fork-fish1601
sea-grape1601
sea-lizard1601
sea-raven1601
barne1602
plosher1602
whale-mouse1607
bowman1610
catfish1620
hog1620
kettle-fish1630
sharpa1636
carda1641
housewifea1641
roucotea1641
ox-fisha1642
sea-serpent1646
croaker1651
alderling1655
butkin1655
shamefish1655
yard1655
sea-dart1664
sea-pelican1664
Negro1666
sea-parrot1666
sea-blewling1668
sea-stickling1668
skull-fish1668
whale's guide1668
sennet1671
barracuda1678
skate-bread1681
tuck-fish1681
swallowtail1683
piaba1686
pit-fish1686
sand-creeper1686
horned hog1702
soldier1704
sea-crowa1717
bran1720
grunter1726
calcops1727
bennet1731
bonefish1734
Negro fish1735
isinglass-fish1740
orb1740
gollin1747
smelt1776
night-walker1777
water monarch1785
hardhead1792
macaw-fish1792
yellowback1796
sea-raven1797
blueback1812
stumpnose1831
flat1847
butterfish1849
croppie1856
gubbahawn1857
silt1863
silt-snapper1863
mullet-head1866
sailor1883
hogback1893
skipper1898
stocker1904
1555 R. Eden Of North Regions in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 269v Dryed fysshe, as soles, maydens, playces.
a1641 T. Heywood Captives (1953) ii. iii. 47 Ffor whome..weare you a ffishinge. Mild. marry ffor Maydes [Bullen (1885) maydens]..but my gutts. howe they are sweld with Sea-brine.]
1837 Wernerian Nat. Hist. Soc. Mem. 7 437 The young specimens from a foot to a foot and a half in length, are named maidens or maiden skates, and are considered the best size for the table.
1880–4 F. Day Fishes Great Brit. & Ireland II. 344 The young [of the thornback ray] termed maids, maidens, or maiden-skates.
1903 Bull. N.Y. State Museum No. 60. 559 In Norfolk Va. Mr Bean heard the name maiden for the young of the common scup.
1939 Fishes (National Geographic Soc.) 69 The Scup of New England..is..the maiden..in Chesapeake Bay.
6. An instrument, similar to the guillotine, used in Edinburgh for beheading criminals of higher social status; (occasionally) = gibbet n.1 1c. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > [noun] > beheading > guillotining > guillotine > instrument similar to
maiden1565
Halifax Gibbet1650
maid1699
1565–6 in R. Adam Edinb. Rec. (1899) I. 504 For the bering of dailles and pouncheonis..with the gibbett and madin, to mak ane scaffald.
c1650 J. Row & J. Row Hist. Kirk Scotl. (1842) 86 June 2, 1581.—The Earle of Morton was beheaded with the axe of the Maiden he himself had caused make.
1656 W. Sanderson Compl. Hist. Mary & James VI i. 95 The fatall Axe (called the maiden) himself had Patterned from that at Hallifax in Yorkshire, which he had seen, and liked the fashion.
1721 A. Ramsay Genty Tibby iii My wyzen with the maiden shore.
1798 T. Jones Memoirs (1951) 90 He was beheaded by a Machine similar to that formerly in use in Scotland and some parts of the North of England called a Maiden.
1821 J. Bentham Elements Art of Packing 121 The Guillotine..(a French edition of our Halifax Maiden).
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. v. 565 The rude old guillotine of Scotland, called the Maiden.
1895 S. R. Crockett Men of Moss-hags lv. 392 I should lay my head beside an Earl's on the block of the Maiden.
1902 J. Paton Sc. Hist. & Life 289 Up to 1710 the maiden, which had been made in 1565, was used.
7.
a. The supports in which the spindle of a spinning wheel turns. Now historical and regional.
ΚΠ
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 286/2 The Maidens or Damsels, the two Stands in which the Spindle turns.
1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 178/1 Maidens,..the two uprights that support the heck in a spinning-wheel; they sit on a cross-bar called the ‘bush’.
1973 L. Russell Everyday Life Colonial Canada ix. 108 The spindle [of a spinning wheel] was a steel spike.., held loosely in a horizontal position by two leather loops from small wooden posts called maidens.
b. English regional (northern). A washerwoman's dolly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > stick to stir washing
maiden1752
dolly1793
doll1841
peggy1860
dolly peg1879
maid1882
poting stick1892
potstick1922
1752 Gentleman's Mag. 22 32 A Machine for washing of Linnen, called a Yorkshire Maiden.
1781 A. Rees Chambers's Cycl. (new ed.) III Maiden..the name of a machine first used in Yorkshire, and since introduced into other places, for washing of linen. [The apparatus as described consists of a dolly fitted to a covered wooden tub. This use of the name has app. not survived.]
1829 J. Hunter Hallamshire Gloss. Maiden, an instrument used in the laundry.
1888 S. O. Addy Gloss. Words Sheffield (at cited word) The maiden is sometimes called a peggy or dolly.
c. English regional (northern). A clothes horse. Cf. maid n.1 9c.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > frame for hanging washing on to dry
hake1689
horse1706
winter dyke1748
maid1795
clothes-horse1807
winter hedge1812
airer1817
clothes-screen1832
linen-horse1845
maiden1856
maiden maker?1881
1856 E. Waugh in Manch. Weekly Examiner & Times 21 June (Suppl.) 3/3 So aw iron't o' my clooas reet weel, An' aw hanged 'em o' th' maiden to dry.
?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 143 Maiden Maker (Clothes Horse).
1989 Trans. Yorks. Dial. Soc. lxxxviii. 30 T'maiden is a cloathes oss, If thar's livin futher dahn.
2018 @frederickone 19 Feb. in twitter.com (O.E.D. Archive) I've got washing drying on a maiden in the conservatory with window open, but it's just as damp inside as outside.
8. Scottish.
a. The last handful of corn cut in the harvest field, often roughly shaped into the figure of a girl or some other form, decorated with ribbons, and hung up in the house (cf. kirn-baby n.). Also harvest maiden.
ΚΠ
1734 Atholl MSS in Sc. National Dict. (1965) VI. 177/3 3 Bottles of Whiskie to the shearers when they got his Graces Maiden.
1794 Har'st Rig cxxxvi. 42 For now the Maiden has been win, And Winter is at last brought in.
1797 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XIX. 550 The fortunate lass who took the maiden was the Queen of the feast.
1814 J. Train Strains of Mountain Muse 95 A former neighbour..Who had with them for wedding bruises run, And from them oft the harvest maiden won.
1885 E. E. Guthrie Old Sc. Customs 130 The ‘Maiden’ was dressed out, generally in the form of a cross, and hung up..in some conspicuous part of the house.
1924 J. A. Thomson Sci. Old & New xliii. 248 We remember seeing half a century ago..the carting home of the Maiden, the last sheaf from the last outstanding field of corn.
1962 Scots Mag. June 210 The Maiden was plaited and hung on the kitchen ceiling.
†b. The harvest home and the feast with which it was celebrated. Obsolete. rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > festive occasion > specific festivities > [noun] > rustic festivities
harvest home1573
maiden1806
hog-killing1817
melon feast1826
crop-over1894
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > harvest home
harvest home1598
home harvest1676
maiden1806
1806 A. Douglas Poems 144 (Jam.) The master has them bidden Come back again, be't foul or fair 'Gainst gloamin', to the Maiden.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 13 Mar. 2/1 We speak always of our Harvest Homes as ‘Maidens’.
9. Elliptical uses of the adjective.
a. Horse Racing. A racehorse that has not yet won a race; a race or class open only to such horses.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [noun] > horse by performance
lightweight1773
sticker1779
maiden1807
favourite1813
mile-horse1829
outsider1836
heavyweight1857
stayer1862
stoner1862
rank outsider1869
pick1872
pot1874
timer1881
resurrectionist1883
short head1883
pea1888
cert1889
stiffa1890
wrong 'un1889
on the mark1890
place horse1890
top-weight1892
miler1894
also-ran1895
selection1901
loser1902
hotpot1904
roughie1908
co-favourite1922
readier1922
springer1922
fav1935
scratch1938
no-hoper1943
shoo-in1950
scorer1974
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > racehorse > that has never won
maiden1807
1807 Sir J. Malcolm in Life (1856) I. xiv. 379 (note) Grant and I have two horses for the two first maidens.
1898 Stratford-on-Avon Herald 11 Feb. 4/4 The Warwickshire Hunt Cup... For horses five years old and upwards, maidens at the time of closing.
1968 M. B. Scott Racing Game 17 A ‘maiden’ is a horse that has never won a race.
1986 Horse & Hound 18 Apr. 73/1 A marathon Glamorgan meeting, with both halves of the maiden divided again.
1986 Sporting Life Weekender 17 Apr. 6/6 He was only a maiden..but put up a tremendous performance to beat a top-class field.
2003 B. Sugar & C. Richardson Horse Sense 36 In theory, a maiden is an untested horse, one who may be placed in this type of race [sc. a maiden race] merely to establish its class.
b. Cricket. An over in which no runs are scored off the bowler.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > alternation of ends in > over devoid of runs
maiden1852
1852 Leamington Spa Courier 11 Sept. 3/6 Wisden bowled 27 over, 12 maidens, 28 runs.
1867 Bell's Life in London 9 Feb. 4/3 He only bowled eleven overs, five of which were ‘maidens’.
1880 Times 28 Sept. 11/5 Shaw joined Selby, and when a couple of maidens had been sent down luncheon intervened.
1921 G. R. C. Harris Few Short Runs xi. 280 Don't turn sulky because after bowling five consecutive maidens you are taken off.
1987 Cricket World Aug. 36/3 The score was 107 for 0, off 82 overs, more than half of which were maidens.
2008 J. Gemmell in B. Majumdar & J. Gemmell Cricket, Race, & 2007 World Cup ii. 29 In his first representative game, against South Australia, Eddie Gilbert took two for 22 off 11 overs (four maidens) in the first innings.
c. A tree or other plant (esp. a strawberry plant) in its first year of growth or fruiting. Also: a maiden tree (see sense B. 4c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > tree or plant producing edible berries > strawberry plant > bearing its first crop
maiden1928
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [adjective] > of plants producing edible berries > of a strawberry plant
remontant1847
runnerless1847
maiden1974
1894 Field 9 June 850/2 A plantation of young apple trees,..mostly maidens and two-year-olds, was badly attacked by green aphis.
1928 Daily Express 28 May 5/3 The ‘runners’ are laid from the ‘maidens’ or last year's [strawberry-]beds.
1966 Times 21 Apr. 16/7 A maiden is a tree that has not suffered human interference by pollarding nor has sprung from a stool shoot after a felling.
1974 Times 13 July 11/3 Another advantage of growing only maiden strawberries is that it gives us one more crop to work into our programme of crop rotation... I have now decided..to grow only maidens—that is, to take one crop off a plant and then discard it.
1985 Gardening from Which? Aug. 249/2 If you want to train trees..it's best to start with one-year-old trees (maidens).
d. A maiden bell (see sense B. 6d).
ΚΠ
1909 Daily Chron. 1 Oct. 7/5 The High Wycombe ‘tenor’..thus issues proudly from the Whitechapel Foundry a ‘maiden’.
B. adj. (chiefly attributive and appositive). [From appositive and attributive uses of the noun. Compare virgin n. and adj.]
I. Literal applications.
1.
a. Of a woman: unmarried. Now chiefly in maiden lady (maiden lady n. at Compounds 2), maiden sister; see also maiden aunt n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > unmarried person(s) > unmarried woman > [adjective]
maidenc1330
wifeless1823
unwifed1834
c1330 (?c1300) Guy of Warwick (Auch.) 196 And euerich kniȝt [ches] his leman Of þat gentil maiden wiman.
1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. viii. 8 b The Moorishe women and mayden slaues.
1640 R. Brathwait Ar't Asleepe Husband? 251 I preferre love before life, said that noble Aurelia to one of her Maiden-sisters.
1765 Lloyd's Evening Post 23 Sept. A cricket-match was played..by eleven married, against eleven maiden women.
1780 R. B. Sheridan School for Scandal iv. i. 43 This is a maiden sister of his.
1852 D. Rock Church our Fathers III. i. 269 The girl-like maiden-mother bowed down before the crib.
1876 M. E. Braddon Joshua Haggard's Daughter I. 9 The feminine element..was supplied by his maiden sister.
1985 J. Merrill Late Settings iii. 79 Three old maiden sisters here..set a table that exceeds her wildest dreams.
2008 L. F. Lee Ex-debutante xxxi. 314 My maiden great-aunt Penelope flitted up to us. She was a hundred if she was a day.
†b. Of a child: female. Cf. maiden-child n. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > child > girl > [adjective]
maidena1400
wench-like1552
girlish1565
young-girlish1822
girly1857
puellular1861
little girl1863
young-girl1867
lassieish1882
puellile1891
small girl1916
girly1962
a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 6080 Ȝyf an husbond chyldryn haue, One or two, mayden or knaue.
†c. Chiefly of a woman: virgin. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > virginity > [adjective] > virginal
unknowna1382
maidena1400
untouchedc1400
undefiledc1450
virginal1483
indeflore?a1513
maidenly1530
undeflowereda1533
virginly1548
untwight1558
virgin1560
unravished1563
undeflore1568
unexperta1586
virgin-like1586
vestal1595
virgineous1607
virginian1613
unseduceda1616
indevirginate?1624
zoned1726
virgie1930
unlaid1962
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) 21019 (MED) [I]ohn, maiden saint iam broþer, Mar luued wid crist þan ani oþer.
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xvii. 151 To blazon foorth the Brytton mayden Queene.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iv. vii. 38 Thou Maiden youth, be vanquisht by a Maide. View more context for this quotation
1640 Wits Recreations sig. E4 She will..sit at dinner like a mayden-bride.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. xxvii. 60) A new tomb it was, and fit it should be for that virgin body, or maiden-corpse, as one calls it.
2. Of or relating to a maiden or maidenhood; befitting a maiden, having the qualities of a maiden.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > young person > young woman > [adjective]
maidenly1530
maidenlike1548
maiden1594
young-ladylike1754
sweet sixteen1826
young ladyish1832
young-womanly1836
flapperish1920
teenybop1967
the mind > emotion > humility > feeling of shame > [adjective] > having sense of shame or decency > maidenly
maidenly1523
maidenlike1548
maidly1560
maiden1594
1594 M. Drayton Endimion & Phoebe sig. F3 Then followed on the Muses, sacred nyne,..In Virgins white, whose louely mayden browes, Were crowned with tryumphant Lawrell bowes.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet ii. i. 128 The maske of night is on my face, Els would a Maiden blush bepaint my cheeks. View more context for this quotation
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream ii. i. 164 And the imperiall Votresse passed on, In maiden meditation, fancy free. View more context for this quotation
?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses vi. 91 Lest pressing so neare, as to touch her knee, He might incense her maiden modestie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) ii. iv. 47 I pluck this pale and Maiden Blossome here. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) v. vi. 52 Ione of Airc..Whose Maiden-blood thus rigorously effus'd, Will cry for Vengeance, at the Gates of Heauen. View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Twelfth Night (1623) v. i. 253 Ile bring you to a Captaine in this Towne, Where lye my maiden weeds. View more context for this quotation
1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. M4v The meanest part of her, Smells like the maiden-Pomander.
1700 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Cinyras & Myrrha in Fables 177 The tender Sire, who saw her blush, and cry, Ascrib'd it all to Maiden-modesty.
1749 J. Cleland Mem. Woman of Pleasure I. 43 I..looked another way from pure horror.., which he..attributed to nothing more than maiden modesty.
1844 B. Disraeli Coningsby II. v. vi. 285 Not..a word that could call forth a maiden blush.
1873 A. Trollope Eustace Diamonds I. i. 4 Lizzie, with a pretty maiden blush, admitted that such a catastrophe was probable.
1932 R. Campbell Pomegranates 1 Pomegranates, colder than the moon, In whom a maiden breast rebels.
3. Of a (usually female) animal, esp. a farm animal: unmated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > family unit > [adjective] > without a mate
mateless1599
widowed1730
maiden1804
1804 Sydney Gaz. 18 Mar. 1/3 To be sold by Private Contract, 52 Ewes, the greater part in Lamb 28 Maiden Ewes.
1840 Boston Advertiser 30 June 3/4 I killed two sheep; one was a maiden ewe, and the other a wether.
1885 Bell's Life in London 15 June 1/1 To be Sold, Two Maiden Three Year Old Fillies.
1892 Stratford-on-Avon Herald 18 Nov. 4/1 To the owner and feeder of the best Pair of..Maiden Sows.
1957 N. F. Ticehurst Mute Swan in Eng. 122 Maiden Swan, an adult swan that had not yet nested.
1971 Farmers Weekly 19 Mar. 45/3 I intend to place an order for younger maiden heifers to replace those slaughtered.
1981 J. Halliday & J. Halliday in K. Thear & A. Fraser Compl. Bk. Raising Livestock & Poultry iv. 77/1 Weaned kids or goatlings (maiden stock between one and two years of age).
2011 M. Carlin in B. Dodds & C. D. Liddy Commerc. Activity, Markets & Entrepreneurs Middle Ages x. 187 Under-reporting the number of lambs born to maiden ewes.
II. Figurative uses.
4. That has not been conquered, tried, worked, etc.
a. Of a town, castle, fortress, etc.: that has never been captured. [In quots. a1500, a1649, and 1816 referring spec. to Edinburgh or to that city's fortress, with the name being variously interpreted: compare post-classical Latin castellum puellarum denoting Edinburgh in Geoffrey of Monmouth (12th cent.), where the meaning is probably ‘fortress so strong that it can be defended by girls, or is a suitable refuge for them’. An alternative tradition is recorded in the following (compare also quot. 1816):
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. xii. xvi. f. 184v/1 In the fourt ȝeir of his regne yis nobill prince come to visie the madin castell of Edinburgh.
In quot. 1995 referring spec. to Londonderry, with allusion to its withstanding the Jacobite siege of 1690.
Maiden Castle occurs as the name of various earthworks in Britain (as a noun compound, although it is unclear whether in this compound Maiden was not originally genitive plural), the following example being the earliest recorded:1173 in Early Yorks. Charters (1914) I. 164 Terram que dicitur Maidencastell [prob. Becca Banks, near Saxton, West Riding of Yorks.].
Similar names are found in other languages (e.g. German Magdeburg (compare quot. 1631; earliest in Old Saxon as Magathaburg, frequently regarded as cultic in origin), French la Pucelle applied to Péronne, Byzantine or medieval Greek Γυναικόκαστρο), and in a number of the instances below the English uses appear to reflect similar antecedent foreign-language uses.]
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fort or fortified town > [adjective] > of fort: unconquered
maidena1500
a1500 (c1425) Andrew of Wyntoun Oryg. Cron. Scotl. (Nero) iii. 619 He biggit Edynburgh wiþe al... Þe Maydyn Castel, in sum plasse Þe Sorowful Hil it callyt was.
1544 A. Cope Hist. Anniball & Scipio Ep. Ded. to King sig. aiv Bollayne, neuer heretofore by any prince subdued, no[r] scarcely by any approched unto, but lefte as a thynge inuincible, and therefore called the mayden towne.
1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. D2v Her breasts..A paire of maiden worlds vnconquered. View more context for this quotation
1601 J. Wheeler Treat. Commerce 30 Tournay..at that time termed the Maiden Citie.
1631 J. Taylor Sudden Turn Fortunes Wheel (Halliw.) 9 Victorie forsook him for ever since he ransacked the maiden town of Magdenburg.
1648 J. Bond Eschol 27 Those parts of the Kingdome which had hitherto been untoucht, the Mayden Counties, as they call them, have been now most of all defloured.
a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 216 Relieving King James III. when he was beleaguer'd in his Maiden-Castle.
1749 T. Nugent Grand Tour IV. 47 [Abbeville] is called the maiden town, because it was never taken by an enemy.
1802 W. Wordsworth On Extinction Venetian Republ. in Sonn. to Liberty She was a maiden City, bright and free.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. vi. 133 ‘The Pictish maidens of the blood-royal were kept at Edinburgh Castle, thence called Castrum Puellarum.’ ‘A childish legend,’ said Oldbuck... ‘It was called the Maiden Castle..because it resisted every attack.’
1995 E. Toman Dancing in Limbo iii. 85 The boys of the maiden city may well have no asses in their trousers, but they sing fit to charm the birds off the trees.
b. Of a soldier, etc., or a weapon: untried in combat. In later use archaic (now rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > [adjective] > that has fought > not
unfoughten1475
unfought1523
maiden1598
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > [adjective] > quality of, generally
starkOE
stiffc1250
sterna1400
vengeablec1400
unwieldya1547
vengefula1586
mistempered1597
maiden1598
lathen1843
humane1970
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 v. iv. 129 Full brauely hast thou flesht Thy mayden sword. View more context for this quotation
?1606 M. Drayton Ode xii, in Poemes sig. C7 That yet a maiden knighte.
a1625 J. Fletcher Humorous Lieut. i. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) 123/1 And to my maiden sword, tye fast your fortune.
1703 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion II. vi. 118 The Horse he put under the Command of his Brother, the Lord John Somerset, a maiden Soldier too.
1834 L. Ritchie Wanderings by Seine 15 He had not as yet fleshed his maiden sword.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice II. iv. v. 6 The air rather of a martyr than a maiden placeman.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Sir Galahad vi, in Poems (new ed.) II. 177 A maiden knight—to me is given Such hope, I know not fear.
1879 J. Webb & T. W. Webb Memorials Civil War I. x. 226 Sir Richard Lawley..had the command of foot, and that of the horse was given to Lord John Somerset, a maiden soldier.
1983 B. Taylor & E. Brewer Return King Arthur vi. 167 The first shows Launfal, a maiden knight, proudly setting forth on his quest and disdainfully tossing a coin to a leper.
c. Of a plant or tree: (a) that has not been lopped, pruned, or transplanted; (b) that has grown from seed, not from a stock; (c) that is one year old (cf. sense A. 9c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > wild and cultivated plants > [adjective] > wild or not cultivated
wildc725
untameda1340
unsownc1374
unplanteda1382
savagea1500
natural1526
self-sowed1597
self-sown1608
maiden1616
voluntary1620
spontaneous1665
uncultivated1697
wilding1697
volunteer1794
uncultured1804
agrarian1851
self-raised1852
the world > plants > by age or cycles > [adjective] > young > seedling
maiden1616
seedling1660
seminal1731
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Porrette, Maidens Leeke, bladed Leeke, vnset Leeke.]
1616 W. Drummond Poems (rev. ed.) sig. P2 Though Enuy, Auarice, Time, your Tombes throw downe, With Maiden Lawrells Nature will them crowne.
1655 T. Moffett & C. Bennet Healths Improvem. xxiii. 223 The unset Leek or Maiden-leek is not so hot as the knopped ones.
1763 R. Burn Eccl. Law II. 413 Maiden trees of beech proceeding from stools above 20 years growth.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 1095 In cutting-wood one maden standard is left to each lugg or forty-nine square yards.
1831 On Planting (Libr. Useful Knowl.) vii. 91 Maiden-plant.—A young tree raised from seed, in opposition to one produced from an old root or stub.
1869 S. R. Hole Bk. Roses (1877) v. 79 In 1868, from ‘maiden’ stocks—i.e., from Briers budded in 1867—I won fourteen first prizes.
1900 Brit. Med. Jrnl. No. 2080. 1367 The child so suffering [from congenital hernia] is passed naked through a cleft maiden ash on a Sunday morning at sunrise.
1977 Observer 14 Aug. 22/7 The maiden, or first year, [strawberry] plants are the best for cloches.
1980 R. Mabey Common Ground ii. i. 75 Scattered amongst the stools..a few standard or ‘maiden’ trees (particularly oak) would be allowed to grow to maturity.
2009 T. C. Smout Exploring Environm. Hist. iii. 57 A regime of coppice-and-standards, where a certain number of 'maiden' trees, growing straight from seed, were to be left.
d. Of soil, metal, etc.: that has never been disturbed or worked. See also maiden-wax n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > mineral material > [adjective] > of minerals: unworked
maiden1622
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > breaking up land > ploughing > [adjective] > unploughed
unearedc1000
unploughed1523
unharrowed1580
unfoiled1611
quick1620
maiden1622
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > types of metal generally > [adjective] > other types or qualities of metal
refinable1607
maiden1622
conflatory1650
calcinable1652
noble1666
deft1683
tensile1841
calcigenous1854
multiple-phase1891
slagless1899
air-hardening1901
non-ferrous1909
free-cutting1923
multiphase1946
semi-metallic1974
the world > the earth > land > ground > [adjective] > not worked or ploughed
maiden1776
1622 G. de Malynes Consuetudo 259 There is Mayden-gold so called because it was never in the fire.
1776 G. Semple Treat. Building in Water 34 You work on fresh maiden Ground, that has not been fouled or incumbered with Stones.
1796 W. H. Marshall Planting II. 322 Take six bushels of maiden earth..that has been dug up with the sward.
1812 R. C. Hoare Anc. Hist. S. Wilts. 16 Maiden downs, by which I mean all land untouched by the plough.
1849 Florist 43 Refreshing my beds annually with a few barrowfuls of maiden earth mixed with pig or horse dung.
1878 Archaeologia Cantiana 12 8 I found the earth was almost entirely maiden soil.
1897 Daily News 23 Apr. 3/1 Much of it [sc. coal] was in its ‘maiden state’—that is, had not been worked over in the past.
1914 C. J. Pfaff Digger's Story 43 We went up the creek to prospect... We pushed on into maiden country,..and got very good prospects.
1990 Sunday Express Mag. 11 Feb. 55/1 If the trees are to be planted in maiden land or in a lawn, it generally pays to dig a hole 2–3 ft across.
2007 N. Angier Canon (2008) vi. 214 Consume the fruit at that moment,..and then amble away to void the indigestible seeds on some distant patch of maiden soil.
5. That is the first of its kind; done, made, used, experienced, etc., for the first time, esp. by a particular individual; (occasionally) early, earliest. See also Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > specific numbers > one > firstness > [adjective] > first of its kind
maiden1555
virgina1628
1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions Pref. 20 He but borowyng their woordes, bryngeth it foorthe for a mayden booke.
a1642 R. Callis Reading of Statute of Sewers (1647) v. 219 Your Reader took in hand to read upon a Maiden law, which never before this time abide [sic] his Exposition in any Inns of Court.
1647 J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 247 I send one of the maiden copies herewith to attend you.
1786 J. Wolcot Lyric Odes to Royal Academicians ii But not a single maiden dish, poor gentleman, of flesh or fish.
1798 Sporting Mag. 12 4 A maiden deer was turned out at Tower Hill.
1809 A. Wilson Foresters in Port Folio 1 540 Fresh on his maiden cruise to see the world.
1825 P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 284 This was my maiden day at English black game shooting.
1883 Cassell's Family Mag. Aug. 527/2 In the second year the planter gets a very small crop called the maiden-crop.
1977 Daily Mirror 15 Mar. 31/1 Rod Marsh..after seventeen appearances against England, is within a mere five runs of his maiden century against the old enemy.
1984 Which? Apr. 147/2 There's always a chance that there will be no other bidders and a ‘maiden’ bid will take the lot.
1989 Independent 30 Jan. 21 The Manchester shop..opened a year ago and produced a maiden turnover of £2m.
6. That has yielded no results.
a. Of a game. Esp. in Cricket of an over (or ball): from which no runs are scored.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > match or competition > [adjective] > types of
maiden1598
well-run1601
unequal1654
well contested1722
returned1758
friendly1780
close-run1813
foursome1814
lightweight1823
tight1828
side1829
one-sided1839
scratch1851
international1859
all-comers1860
scrub1867
pointless1876
scoreless1885
replayed1886
peg-down1887
all-star1889
stiff1890
varsity1891
postseason1893
knock-out1896
best-of-(a specified odd number)1897
seeded1901
junior varsity1902
Simon Pure1905
pegged-down1908
JV1923
zero-sum1944
tie-breaking1970
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes A lurch or a maiden set at any game.
1842 Nottingham Rev. 8 July 5/1 Chapman..had six maiden overs; bowled six wide balls, and bowled two men out.
1853 F. Gale Public School Matches 13 The first over is maiden.
1854 F. Lillywhite Guide to Cricketers (ed. 7) 26 Clarke bowled 64 maiden balls.
1864 Daily Tel. 16 May Half-a-dozen ‘maiden overs’ in succession, every ball dead on the middle stump, and yet played steadily back again to the bowler.
1893 W. S. Gilbert Utopia (Limited) 11 An occasional ‘maiden over’.
1986 Daily Tel. 23 Aug. 26/4 With 71 needed off 11 overs, Patel played a maiden over against Chris Smith.
2003 E. Griffiths Glory Days ii. 25 As the runs started to flow, John Arlott told his radio listeners: ‘Forget about bowling a maiden over, it now appears almost impossible to bowl a maiden ball.’
b. Of an assize, circuit, or session: (formerly) at which no prisoner was condemned to death; (subsequently) at which there are no cases for trial. Now historical and rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > judicial body, assembly, or court > a or the session of a court > [adjective] > session with no cases or death sentences
maiden1685
1685 R. Verney Let. 10 Mar. in M. M. Verney Mem. (1899) IV. ix. 325 Tis a Mayden Assise, for none will bee hanged, but 3 or 4 small offenders are Burnt in the Hand.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew Maiden-sessions, when none are Hang'd.
1742 Gentleman's Mag. July 386 Ended the sessions at the Old Bailey, which proved a maiden one, none having been capitally convicted.
1826 W. Scott Jrnl. 17 Apr. (1939) 156 The judge was presented with a pair of white gloves, in consideration of its being a maiden circuit.
1847 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words II. 537 Maiden-assize, a session where no prisoners are capitally convicted.
1868 Daily Tel. 16 Apr. It is nearly half a century since there has been a maiden sessions at Oxford.
2007 A. McKenzie Tyburn's Martyrs i. 5 While there were a few ‘maiden sessions’ in which no one was even condemned, some executions were very large.
c. Of a racehorse, dog, etc.: that has never won a prize or race. Hence, of a class, prize, or race: offered or open to maiden horses, dogs, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > racing or race > horse racing > [adjective] > racing qualities of horse
maiden1760
lasting1809
on the joba1889
pacemaking1937
raceable1944
1760 R. Heber Horse Matches ix. 40 All Maiden Horses favoured 2 lb.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports (ed. 2) ii. i. xiii. 364 A Maiden horse or mare is one that has never won.
1886 York Herald 10 Aug. 7/5 Two Miles Maiden Bicycle Handicap.
1896 Daily News 17 July 3/4 The maiden class for horses that have never won a first prize before.
1948 C. L. B. Hubbard Dogs in Brit. 68 Dogs are judged in classes..defined as follows: Maiden—for dogs which have never won in any class.
1955 Times 3 May 4/3 Harbour Bar, winner of a mile maiden race at Epsom.
1990 Cork Examiner 14 July 20/3 He won two races at Redcar last season—a maiden auction and a nursery.
2008 E. Crosby Bordeaux Betrayal xvi. 196 Pépé and I planned to watch a couple of Mick's maiden horses run in the GCH's fall Point-to-Point.
d. Of a bell, or a peal of bells: needing little or no tuning after it has been cast.
ΚΠ
1881 Western Antiquary June Suppl. 54/1 A maiden bell, that is, one that required no chipping at the sound-bow to bring it in tune.
1901 H. E. Bulwer Gloss. Techn. Terms Bells & Ringing 2 Maiden bell, a bell that requires no tuning after it comes from the mould.
1910 Encycl. Brit. III. 688/1 The metal is then boiled and run molten into the mould... When extricated it ought to be scarcely touched and should hardly require tuning. This is called its maiden state.
1912 H. B. Walters Church Bells Eng. ii. 47 Sometimes a whole peal used to be turned out so nearly correct that no tuning was needed; such bells were known as a ‘maiden peal’.
2010 R. Martello Midnight Ride, Industr. Dawn v.162 The rare bell able to produce a desired sound without tuning is known as a maiden bell, the holy grail of bell founders.
†e. Of a tide: on which no vessels enter or leave the dock. Obsolete. rare.
ΚΠ
1897 Daily Tel. 30 Nov. 10/2 Hull.—There was to-day a maiden tide, no vessel being able either to enter or to leave, owing to the storm and flood.

Compounds

C1. Compounds of the noun.
a. General attributive, objective, and similative.
(a)
† maiden-monger n. Obsolete rare
ΚΠ
a1640 J. Fletcher & P. Massinger Custome of Countrey i. i, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Aav/2 This thing you study to betray your child to. This Maiden-monger.
(b)
maiden-catching adj.
ΚΠ
1957 W. H. Auden & C. Kallman Magic Flute i. i. 28 Had I a maiden-catching net, Fair maids by dozens I should daily get.
1999 E. Greenwood Silverfall 365 ‘I'll blast you down into lasting torment as a crippled serpent under my boots.’ ‘Now that's a charming maiden-catching manner.’
maiden-cheeked adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > cheek > [adjective] > types of cheek > having
blob-cheeked1552
bright-cheekeda1560
plum-cheeked1598
chub-faced1602
white-cheekedc1602
chuffy1611
lantern-jawed1699
lockram-jawed1699
blubber-cheeked1711
chub-cheeked1715
lank-jawed1778
apple-faced1781
chubby-faced1826
apple-cheeked1827
lank-cheeked1838
bag-cheeked1839
poke-cheeked1843
maiden-cheeked1866
1866 ‘G. Eliot’ Felix Holt II. xxxii. 269 The maiden-cheeked conscript whose load is too heavy for him.
2002 D. Raffel Carrying Body 15 He was..a duly-rounded, maiden-cheeked, incontinent, disfathered heir.
maiden-eyed adj. poetic
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective] > having
eyed1613
maiden-eyed1857
1857 C. B. Cayley Psyche's Interludes 46 Hark! maiden-eyed, white-soulèd bride.
1930 J. Masefield Wanderer of Liverpool 24 The maiden-eyed morning.
2001 J. Tarr Daughter of Lir xlii. 203 He watched their bold half-naked women dance with their maiden-eyed men.
maiden-faced adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > face with expression or expression > [adjective]
visageda1400
maiden-faced1567
fronted1615
1567 A. Golding tr. Ovid Metamorphosis (new ed.) vii. f. 80 Boreas sonnes had chaste Away the Maidenfaced foules that did the victels waste.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. x. 430 They solicitat her mayden-fac'd Maiesty [sc. the moon].
1971 Viator 2 308 About the year 1170 a new tradition was born, that of the maiden-faced serpent in the Garden of Eden.
2002 J. Carey Kushiel's Chosen xxxi. 243 Yon maiden-faced boy..would fill his pockets at the Immortali's expense once their play turned to dicing.
maiden-folded adj.
ΚΠ
1916 D. H. Lawrence Hands of Betrothed in Amores 100 Then lets her black hair loose, the darkness fall About her from her maiden-folded bands.
maiden-furled adj.
ΚΠ
1876 G. M. Hopkins Wreck of Deutschland xxxiv, in Poems (1967) 62 The heaven-flung, heart-fleshed, maiden-furled Miracle-in-Mary-of-flame.
maiden-hued adj.
ΚΠ
1913 E. F. Benson Thorley Weir i. 21 The dog-rose spread its maiden-hued face skywards.
maiden tongued adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > [adjective]
tonguedc1369
speeched1567
maiden tongued1609
1609 W. Shakespeare Louers Complaint in Sonnets sig. K3 Maiden tongu'd he was and thereof free.
1865 A. C. Swinburne Chastelard i. i. 18 That maiden-tongued male-faced Elizabeth Hath eyes unlike our queen's, hair not so soft.
b.
† maiden bairn n. Scottish and English regional (northern) Obsolete a female child; a daughter.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > kinsman or relation > child > daughter > [noun]
daughtereOE
maiden bairna1400
little girl1549
daughterkina1605
queanie?1800
daughterling1853
DD1996
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 5546 þe knau barns..þai suld..sla, þe maiden barns þai suld lat ga.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1830) 166 The Quene..wes deliverit of ane maden barne.
1614 in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. (1833) III. 270 Aue quik madin-bairne.
1827 C. I. Johnstone Elizabeth de Bruce I. iii. 56 If they had left the bairn to me,—if de Bruce's bride had her maiden bairn,..proud mithers would we baith have been.
1854 M. Oliphant Magdalen Hepburn I. xxii. 266 That will naught serve thee, poor maiden bairn, in this wild country.
maiden bark n. (perhaps) a young tree, young timber.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > [noun]
woodc725
treec825
cedar beamc1000
wood-plant1773
woody plant1830
maiden bark1831
muti1858
1831 On Planting (Libr. Useful Knowl.) vii. 92 Tiller, or Tellar, a shoot selected for its superior strength and healthy habit from those produced by a coppice-stool to stand for a timber-tree, or for maiden bark, if an oak, to stand for the space of two or three falls.
maiden blush n. [compare earlier maiden's blush n. 1 and quot. 1597 at sense B. 2.] = maiden's blush n. 1 (used attributive); also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > shades of red > pale red or pink
incarnationa1475
carnation?1533
peach colour1573
maiden's blush1598
maiden blush1600
flesh-colour1611
gridelinc1640
incarnadine1661
pinka1669
peach bloom1716
pompadour1761
rose pink1772
salmon-colour1813
orange-pink1820
peachiness1820
maiden rose1827
pinkiness1828
peach-blow1829
peach1831
pink madder1835
flesh-tint1839
pinkness1840
rose du Barry1847
flesh1852
almond1872
ash of roses1872
nymph-pink1872
rose Pompadour1872
salmon1873
pinkishness1874
mushroom1884
salmon-pink1884
naturelle1887
shell-pink1887
sunrise1890
sultan pink1899
mushroom colour1900
sunblush1925
flesh tone1931
magnolia1963
1600 in J. Arnold Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (1988) 286/1 Item one rounde kirtle of Mayden blush Sylver Chamblet.
1605 N. Breton Soules Immortall Crowne sig. C2 She shewes her there the Maiden-blush complection, Betwixt the cherrie Red, and snowie White.
1658 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 2nd Pt. 99 His maiden-blush modesty will not suffer him to declare his sinne.
1861 G. D. Ruffini Dr. Antonio (new ed.) i The maidenblush clearness of the skin.
maiden feast n. the feast after cutting the maiden (see sense A. 8).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > meal > feast > [noun] > harvest-home feast
kirn1777
kirn-supper1777
maiden feast1797
churn-supper1801
kirn-feast1846
hay-home supper1860
churn-getting1866
1797 J. Sinclair Statist. Acct. Scotl. XIX. 550 It was, till very lately, the custom to give what was called a Maiden Feast, upon the finishing of the harvest.
1824 Edinb. Mag. Oct. 451/2 I can dance a quadrille,..but I frankly own, that I feel far greater pleasure in attending a penny-wedding, or a farmer's maiden feast.
1908 Aldersgate Primitive Methodist Mag. 89 676/2 In the North a ‘maiden feast’ was given. The last handful of corn was called ‘the maiden’.
1996 R. Hutton Stations of Sun xxxiii. 343 Around 1800 it was known generally as the harvest supper, harvest feast, or harvest home,..in southern Scotland as the ‘kirn’ or ‘kirn supper’, in northern Scotland as the ‘maiden feast’.
† maiden gear n. Obsolete rare virginity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > virginity > [noun] > specifically of women > state or condition of
virginitya1400
pucelagec1525
maiden-gem1612
maiden gear1719
1719 T. D'Urfey Wit & Mirth I. 130 My father takes me for a Saint, Tho' weary of my Maiden Geer.
† maiden-gem n. Obsolete = maiden gear n.; also in figurative context.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > virginity > [noun] > specifically of women > state or condition of
virginitya1400
pucelagec1525
maiden-gem1612
maiden gear1719
1612 M. Drayton Poly-olbion x. 160 Chaste Winifrid: who chose Before her mayden-gem she forcibly would lose [etc.].
1646 R. Crashaw Steps to Temple 6 Such the Maiden Gemme By the wanton Spring put on, Peeps from her Parent stemme, And blushes on the watry Sun.
1845 S. R. Bosanquet Vestiges Nat. Hist. Creation (ed. 2) 4 The maiden gem of truth and singleness of purpose.
† maiden-heart n. Obsolete rare a variety of pear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular types of fruit > [noun] > pear > other types of
calewey1377
honey peara1400
pome-pear1440
pome-wardena1513
choke-pear1530
muscadel1555
worry pear1562
lording1573
bon-chrétienc1575
Burgundian pear1578
king pear1585
pound pear1585
poppering1597
wood of Jerusalem1597
muscadine1598
amiot1600
bergamot1600
butter pear1600
dew-pear1600
greening1600
mollart1600
roset1600
wax pear1600
bottle pear1601
gourd-pear1601
Venerian pear1601
musk pear1611
rose pear1611
pusill1615
Christian1629
nutmeg1629
rolling pear1629
surreine1629
sweater1629
amber pear1638
Venus-pear1648
horse-pear1657
Martin1658
russet1658
rousselet1660
diego1664
frith-pear1664
maudlin1664
Messire Jean1664
primate1664
sovereign1664
spindle-pear1664
stopple-pear1664
sugar-pear1664
virgin1664
Windsor pear1664
violet-pear1666
nonsuch1674
muscat1675
burnt-cat1676
squash pear1676
rose1678
Longueville1681
maiden-heart1685
ambrette1686
vermilion1691
admiral1693
sanguinole1693
satin1693
St. Germain pear1693
pounder pear1697
vine-pear1704
amadot1706
marchioness1706
marquise1706
Margaret1707
short-neck1707
musk1708
burree1719
marquis1728
union pear1728
Doyenne pear1731
Magdalene1731
beurré1736
colmar1736
Monsieur Jean1736
muscadella1736
swan's egg1736
chaumontel1755
St Michael's pear1796
Williams1807
Marie Louise1817
seckel1817
Bartlett1828
vergaloo1828
Passe Colmar1837
glou-morceau1859
London sugar1860
snow-pear1860
Comice1866
Kieffer pear1880
sand pear1880
sandy pear1884
snowy pear1884
1685 Compl. Planter & Cyderist xxvi. 178 The Slipper, and the Lewis Pear by some call'd the Maiden-heart, is the best off all Pears to dry, and a good bearer.
1721 J. Mortimer Whole Art Husb. II. 295 The Lewis Pear, or by some the Maiden-heart.
maiden maker n. rare a person whose occupation is making clothes horses (see sense A. 7c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > washing > washing clothes and textile articles > [noun] > frame for hanging washing on to dry
hake1689
horse1706
winter dyke1748
maid1795
clothes-horse1807
winter hedge1812
airer1817
clothes-screen1832
linen-horse1845
maiden1856
maiden maker?1881
?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 143 Maiden Maker (Clothes Horse).
† maiden Mary n. Obsolete the Virgin Mary.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > Mary > [noun]
ladyOE
queenOE
MaryOE
St MaryOE
starOE
Our LadylOE
lemana1225
maidena1225
maid Marya1225
heaven queenc1225
mothera1275
maiden Maryc1300
Star of the Seac1300
advocatrixc1390
mother-maidc1390
flower, gem, etc., of virginitya1393
the Virgina1393
mediatricea1400
paramoura1400
salver14..
advocatrice?a1430
Mother of God?a1430
way of indulgence?a1430
advocatessc1450
mother-maidenc1450
rose of Jerichoa1456
mediatrixc1475
viergec1475
addresseressa1492
fleur-de-lis?a1513
rosine?a1513
salvatrice?a1513
saviouress1563
mediatressa1602
advocatress1616
Christotokos1625
Deipara1664
V.M.1670
Madonnaa1684
the Virgin Mother1720
Panagia1776
Mater Dolorosa1800
B.V.M.1838
dispensatrixa1864
Theotokos1874
dispensatress1896
c1300 Holy Cross (Laud) 68 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 3 (MED) I-bore he was of þe maydene Marie.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 319 (MED) Þe kyng ȝaf here lond for to bulde tweie abbayes of maydons.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 28483 I..forced sum woman with nede, and maþens reft þair maþenhede.
c1440 (?c1350) in G. G. Perry Relig. Pieces in Prose & Verse (1914) 29 Goddes sone tuke flesche and blode of þe blyssed maydene Marie.
1722 N. Bailey Antiq. London & Westm. 191 The Worship of God and his Mother Maiden Mary.
maiden-meek adj. meek as befits a maiden.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > [adjective]
heanc825
daftc1000
edmedec1000
edmodc1000
edmodeda1175
sheepishc1175
deftc1220
edmodi?c1225
lowc1225
humblec1250
beienlichc1275
buxoma1300
meekc1325
benign1377
lowlya1382
contemptiblec1384
pridelessc1395
humil1488
low-down1548
unproud1570
demiss1572
unpuffed1577
afflicted1590
unselfdelicious1605
cottagely1653
unselfvaluing1668
simplified1721
demissivea1763
stateless1844
maiden-meek1847
vanityless1854
patronizable1884
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess iii. 53 Yet maiden-meek I prayed Concealment.
† maiden milk n. Obsolete = lac Virginis n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > [noun] > preparations for the skin or complexion > lotions and liquids
waterOE
maiden milk?a1425
May-dew?a1425
milk of almondsa1425
maidens' milk?c1450
lac Virginis1477
surflingc1555
surfle1593
virgin's milk1600
lotion1606
washa1627
beauty water1675
mercury-water1676
beauty wash1706
Kalydor1824
skin tonic1863
flower-water1886
Limacol1936
moisture lotion1957
toning lotion1960
toner1970
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 114v (MED) Bononus preiseþ lac virgineum, i. mayden mylke [?c1425 Paris maydenes melk], þat is made with acete and litarge.
† maiden nut n. Mechanics Obsolete rare the inner of two nuts on a screw.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > nut
nut1507
screw nut1604
screw box1656
maiden nuta1884
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 575/2 Maiden nut, the inner one of two nuts on the same screw; the outer is the jam-nut.
maiden of honour n. = maid of honour n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > attendant or personal servant > [noun] > lord-in-waiting > lady-in-waiting or maid of honour
maiden of honoura1450
gentlewomana1470
lady of presence1530
maid of honourc1595
lady of honour1631
lady-in-waiting1703
duenna1761
dame d'honneur1805
a1450–1509 (?a1300) Richard Coer de Lyon (A-version) (1913) 882 The kyngys douȝtyr lay in her bour, Wiþ here maydenys off honour.
1631 J. Weever Anc. Funerall Monuments 446 The Ladies of the Court, and Maydens of Honor.
1756 London Mag. May 352/2 Since Maidens of Honour, untaught by the Graces, May spit, while at church, in their enemies' faces, [etc.].
1858 J. Doran Hist. Court Fools 172 Mistress Mary Ratcliffe, one of Elizabeth's maidens of honour.
1902 H. D. Rawnsley Life & Nature Eng. Lakes 52 A gaily painted..waggon, with the Maypole set up behind in a mimic throne therein, going slowly past to be be-garlanded, and set in order for the Queen and her maidens of honour.
2011 E. O'Brien Saints & Sinners 53 Lily of the valley..tiaras of it for the bridesmaids and bunches for the little maidens of honour.
maiden-rip n. Scottish rare = sense A. 8a.
ΚΠ
1882 J. Walker Descr. Jaunt to Auld Reekie 12 She grips some stalks and twists the maiden-rip In triple strands.
† maiden-servant n. Obsolete = sense A. 3.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > [noun] > woman or girl
maidenOE
schelchenec1000
womanOE
maidc1300
ancillec1366
wench1380
child-womana1382
maidservanta1382
serving-womana1398
servantessa1425
servant maid?a1450
woman servant1450
servitrice1477
administress1483
ministressa1500
serving maid?1529
maiden-servant1533
servitrix1566
miskin-fro1585
servant girl1658
girl1668
necessary womanc1689
scout1708
servitress1827
ancilla1871
1533 J. Gau tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay sig. Bi (heading) Thou sal noth desir thy nichtburs wiff madin seruand beist or ony thing quhilk pertenis to hime.
1740 S. Richardson Pamela (1824) I. iv. 19 If the wench, (for so she calls us maiden-servants) takes care of herself she'll improve.
maiden-skate n. Scottish a young skate or thornback ray (cf. maid n.1 8).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > subclass Elasmobranchii > order Hypotremata > [noun] > family Rajidae > member of genus Raia (skate)
skatec1340
flathec1440
maid1569
maid-fish1665
flair1668
maiden-skatea1795
skate maid1836
tinker1836
flapper-skate1839
roker1860
rajoid1890
a1795 G. Low Fauna Orcadensis (1813) 168 The young, or, as the fishermen call them, the maiden skates, are very good eating.
1811 P. Neill in Mem. Wernerian Nat. Hist. Soc. 1 553 The young both of the thornback and the skate are denominated Maiden-skate.
1880–4 F. Day Fishes Great Brit. & Ireland II. 344 The young [of the thornback ray] termed maids, maidens, or maiden-skates.
† maidens' light n. Obsolete rare a light (in a church) maintained by maidens.
ΚΠ
1547–8 in H. J. F. Swayne Churchwardens' Accts. Sarum (1896) 275 For viij li. of wex for the Maydens light vs.
† maidens' milk n. Obsolete rare = lac Virginis n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the skin or complexion > [noun] > preparations for the skin or complexion > lotions and liquids
waterOE
maiden milk?a1425
May-dew?a1425
milk of almondsa1425
maidens' milk?c1450
lac Virginis1477
surflingc1555
surfle1593
virgin's milk1600
lotion1606
washa1627
beauty water1675
mercury-water1676
beauty wash1706
Kalydor1824
skin tonic1863
flower-water1886
Limacol1936
moisture lotion1957
toning lotion1960
toner1970
?c1450 in G. Müller Aus Mittelengl. Medizintexten (1929) 32 (MED) A watir þat is clepyd maydinis mylke.
maiden's water n. colloquial (chiefly Australian) any weak drink, esp. tea.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > [noun] > a drink or draught
shenchc950
drinkc1000
draughtc1200
beveragec1390
napa1450
potation1479–81
potionc1484
slaker?1518
glut1541
pocill1572
adipson1601
go-down1614
slash1614
gulf1674
libation1751
meridian1771
sinda1774
sling1788
mahogany1791
a shove in the mouth1821
nooner1836
quencher1841
refresh1851
slackener1861
squencher1871
refreshener1888
refresher1922
maiden's blush1941
maiden's water1975
1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 45 Maid's-water, a thin, bodyless drink, esp. weak tea.]
1975 Weekend Mag. (Montreal) 1 Nov. 21/1 There has been some talk of calling upon Aunt Cissy Roach to take the matter in hand... She could do so, we know, armed with no more than two haddock bones, a small crock of maiden's water and the ford hatch cover from the ill-fated Leslie and Grace.
1986 B. Hudson First Austral. Dict. Vulgarities & Obscenities (1987) Maiden's water, weak tea.
maiden-thought n. poetic (Keats's term for) the stage of human development after ‘the infant or thoughtless Chamber’, a stage of innocent, untarnished hope.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > thought > [noun]
witOE
thoughtOE
cogitation1557
thinkingness1672
thinkfulness1674
thoughtsomeness1674
cogitativity1722
cogitancy1759
maiden-thought1818
cogitativeness1823
thought centre1846
thought-consciousness1901
1818 J. Keats Let. 3 May (1958) I. 281 We no sooner get into the second Chamber, which I shall call the Chamber of Maiden-Thought, than we become intoxicated with the light and the atmosphere.
1954 L. MacNeice Autumn Sequel 22 The Customs Office of Maiden-thought.
† maiden-widowed adj. Obsolete widowed while still a maiden.Apparently an isolated use.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > widow or widower > [adjective] > widowed
maiden-widowed1599
viduate1791
1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iii. ii. 135 I a maide, die maiden widowed . View more context for this quotation
c. In various plant-names. Also maidenhair n., maidenweed n.
maiden-blush rose n. = maiden's blush n. 2a.
ΚΠ
1861 C. M. Yonge Stokesley Secret ii. 35 The standard maiden-blush rose.
1928 D. H. Lawrence Let. 14 Nov. (1962) II. 1100 Those maiden-blush roses.
maiden cane n. a grass, Panicum hemitomon, which is native to moist, flat, coastal areas of the south-eastern United States and produces an extensive rhizome system with numerous sterile shoots (the plant mentioned in quot. 1853 may be a different species).
ΚΠ
1806 M. Lewis Jrnl. 5 June (1991) VII. 335 Among the grasses of this country [sc. Idaho] I observe a large speceis which..has much the appearance of the maden cain [sic] as it is called in..Ge[o]rgia.
1853 M. Howitt tr. F. Bremer Homes of New World 476 The wild sugar-cane, the maiden-cane grew along the banks, and showed that the soil was favorable for sugar cultivation.
1942 M. K. Rawlings Cross Creek xxi. 338 We tethered him in the maiden cane until he wore the rope through.
1990 T. C. Boyle East is East ii. 271 His own eyes shot out past the bow to scan the mass of maiden cane and titi up ahead.
† maiden-lips n. (also maiden-lip) Obsolete a European plant of the family Boraginaceae, Lappula squarrosa.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Boraginaceae (bugloss and allies) > [noun]
ribeOE
hound's-tonguec1000
ox-tonguea1325
rotheren tongue?a1350
buglossa1400
dog's tongue?a1425
lungwort1538
anchusa1548
sheep's tongue1552
cowslip of Jerusalem1578
Our Lady's milkwort1578
pulmonaria1578
sage of Jerusalem1578
wild comfrey1578
maiden-lips1589
bugloss cowslip1597
viper's bugloss1597
viper's herb1597
ribbie1607
lithospermon1646
wall bugloss1650
lady's glove1668
Venus's navelwort1678
spotted comfrey1688
cynogloss1705
Jerusalem sage1736
lawn1778
Mertensia1836
stickseed1843
Virginian cowslip1856
bluebell1858
gooseberry fool1858
Jerusalem cowslip1866
borage-wort1882
echium1883
rose noble1886
milksile-
1589 J. Rider Bibliotheca Scholastica 1748 Maiden lips, or tasil, lappago.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 711/1 Maiden-lip, Echinospermum Lappula.
† maiden mercury n. Obsolete a species of mercury, probably Mercurialis tomentosa.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Euphorbiaceae (spurges and allies) > [noun] > annual mercury
mercurya1398
baron's mercury1578
boy's mercury1578
girl's mercury1578
maiden mercury1578
French mercury1597
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. lii. 78 Phyllon... The male is called ἀρρενογόνον, whiche may be Englished Barons Mercury or Phyllon, or Boyes Mercury or Phyllon. And the female is called in Greeke θηλυγόνον: and this kinde may be called in English Gyrles Phyllon or Mercury, Daughters Phyllon, or Mayden Mercury.
maiden oak n. regional (now rare perh. Obsolete) the durmast oak, Quercus petraea.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > oak and allies > [noun] > other oaks
red oakOE
cerre-tree1577
gall-tree1597
robur1601
kermes1605
live oak1610
white oak1610
royal oak1616
swamp-oak1683
grey oak1697
rock oak1699
chestnut oak1703
water oak1709
Spanish oak1716
turkey-oak1717
willow oak1717
iron oak1724
maiden oak1725
scarlet oak1738
black jack1765
post oak1775
durmast1791
mountain chestnut oak1801
quercitron oak1803
laurel oak1810
mossy-cup oak1810
rock chestnut oak1810
pin oak1812
overcup oak1814
overcup white oak1814
bur oak1815
jack oak1816
mountain oak1818
shingle-oak1818
gall-oak1835
peach oak1835
golden oak1838
weeping oak1838
Aleppo oak1845
Italian oak1858
dyer's oak1861
Gambel's Oak1878
maul oak1884
punk oak1884
sessile oak1906
Garry oak1908
roble1908
1725 C. Morris Diary 9 Jan. (1934) 115 James Whitehead came & offer'd to pay..for the great Mischief he did in Topping 39 Maiden Oaks.
1850 Phytologist 3 883 (note) The Quercus sessiliflora they [sc. woodmen] call White Oak and Maiden Oak.
maiden pink n. a Eurasian wild pink (scarce in Britain), Dianthus deltoides, found in dry, often sandy, pastures.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > pinks or carnations
gillyflower1517
carnation1538
clove gillyflower1538
incarnation1538
William1538
pink1566
John1572
Indian eye1573
sops-in-wine1573
sweet John1573
sweet-william1573
tuft gillyflower1573
Colmenier1578
small honesty1578
tol-me-neer1578
London tuft1597
maidenly pink1597
mountain pink1597
clove-carnation1605
musk-gillyflower1607
London pride1629
pride of London1629
maiden pink1650
Indian pink1664
Spanish pink1664
pheasant's eye pink1718
flake1727
flame1727
picotee1727
old man's head1731
painted lady1731
piquet1731
China-pink1736
clove1746
wild pink1753
lime-wort1777
matted thrift1792
clove-pink1837
Cheddar Pink1843
Dianthus1849
bunch pink1857
perpetual-flowering carnation1861
cliff pink1863
meadow pink1866
musk carnation1866
Jack1873
wax-pink1891
Malmaison1892
grenadin1904
1650 W. How Phytologia Britannica 11 Dwarfe Pinkes or Mayden Pinkes.
1719 J. Quincy Lexicon Physico-medicum Vasculiferous Plants, with a pentapetalous Flower..such as Maiden Pinks, Campions, St. John's Wort.
1882 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 9 476 At Makerstoun Crags..the spindle-tree, maiden-pink,..and the common feverfew grew.
1952 A. G. L. Hellyer Sanders' Encycl. Gardening (ed. 22) 160 [Dianthus] deltoides, ‘Maiden Pink’, rose and white, summer, 6 to 9 in., Britain to Japan.
1988 Conservation Biol. 2 360 The maiden pink, Dianthus deltoides, is a perennial..herb that grows in sunny habitats on dry sandy soils.
maiden plum n. (more fully maiden plum tree) any of several West Indian trees of the genus Comocladia (family Anacardiaceae); (formerly also) †the icaco, Chrysobalanus icaco (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > non-British trees or shrubs > South American and West Indian trees or shrubs > [noun] > others
persea1601
mahoe1666
poison berry1672
white mangrove1683
maiden plum1696
angelin1704
garlic-pear1725
milkwood-tree1725
Jack-in-the-box1735
cherimoya1736
rattle bush1750
galapee1756
genip1756
lace bark1756
sunfruit1787
wild orange1802
hog-nut1814
mountain pride1814
savannah wattle1814
mora1825
rubber tree1826
mayflower1837
bastard manchineel1838
long john1838
seringa1847
sack tree1849
jumbie tree1860
jumbie bean1862
king-tree1863
gauze-tree1864
mountain green1864
snowdrop tree1864
strong bark1864
switch-sorrel1864
candle-tree1866
maypole1866
angelique1873
poisonwood1884
porkwood1884
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular food plant or plant product > particular fruit-tree or -plant > [noun] > tropical or exotic fruit-tree or -plant > of tropical America > icaco or coco-plum tree
maiden plum1696
icaco1752
coco-plum1756
1696 H. Sloane Catal. Plantarum in Jamaica 184 The Maiden Plumb-tree.
1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 318 Maiden Plumb, Chrysobalanus.
1864 A. H. R. Grisebach Flora Brit. W. Indian Islands 785 Maiden-plum, Comocladia integrifolia.
1926 W. Fawcett & A. B. Rendle Flora Jamaica V. 11 (heading) Comocladia..Maiden Plum.
maiden rose n. = maiden's blush n. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > red or redness > [noun] > shades of red > pale red or pink
incarnationa1475
carnation?1533
peach colour1573
maiden's blush1598
maiden blush1600
flesh-colour1611
gridelinc1640
incarnadine1661
pinka1669
peach bloom1716
pompadour1761
rose pink1772
salmon-colour1813
orange-pink1820
peachiness1820
maiden rose1827
pinkiness1828
peach-blow1829
peach1831
pink madder1835
flesh-tint1839
pinkness1840
rose du Barry1847
flesh1852
almond1872
ash of roses1872
nymph-pink1872
rose Pompadour1872
salmon1873
pinkishness1874
mushroom1884
salmon-pink1884
naturelle1887
shell-pink1887
sunrise1890
sultan pink1899
mushroom colour1900
sunblush1925
flesh tone1931
magnolia1963
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > rose and allied flowers > rose > types of rose flower or bush
summer rosea1456
French rose1538
damask rose?a1547
musk rose1559
province1562
winter rose1577
Austrian brier1590
rose of Provence1597
velvet rose1597
damasine-rose1607
Provence rose1614
blush-rose1629
maiden's blush1648
monthly rose tree1664
Provinsa1678
York and Lancaster rose1688
cinnamon rose1699
muscat rose1707
cabbage rose1727
China-rose1731
old-fashioned rose1773
moss rose1777
swamp rose1785
alba1797
Cherokee rose1804
Macartney rose1811
shepherd's rose1818
multiflora1820
prairie rose1822
Boursault1826
Banksian rose1827
maiden rose1827
moss1829
Noisette1829
seven sisters rose1830
Dundee rambler1834
Banksia rose1835
Chickasaw rose1835
Bourbon1836
climbing rose1836
green rose1837
hybrid China1837
Jaune Desprez1837
Lamarque1837
perpetual1837
pillar rose1837
rambler1837
wax rose1837
rugosa1840
China1844
Manetti1846
Banksian1847
remontant1847
gallica1848
hybrid perpetual1848
Persian Yellow1848
pole rose1848
monthly1849
tea rose1850
quarter sessions rose1851
Gloire de Dijon1854
Jacqueminot1857
Maréchal Niel1864
primrose1864
jack1867
La France1868
tea1869
Ramanas rose1876
Japanese rose1883
polyantha1883
old rose1885
American Beauty1887
hybrid tea1890
Japan rose1895
roselet1896
floribunda1898
Zéphirine Drouhin1901
Penzance briar1902
Dorothy Perkins1903
sweetheart1905
wichuraiana1907
mermaid1918
species rose1930
sweetheart rose1936
peace1944
shrub rose1948
1827 G. Darley Sylvia 102 Here's a garland of red maiden-roses for you.
1832 M. R. Mitford Our Village V. 89 She has just as much colour as any woman ought to have—the maiden-rose tint.
maiden's honesty n. regional (southern) (now rare) traveller's joy, Clematis vitalba (cf. honesty n. 7b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > climbing, trailing, or creeping shrubs > [noun] > clematis or traveller's joy
white vine?a1425
clematis1578
lady's bower1597
traveller's joy1597
virgin's bower1597
bethwine1609
honesty1640
love1640
maiden's honesty1691
lady bower1715
virgin-bower1725
old man's beard1731
bindwith1797
Robin Hood's feather1820
silver-bush1886
1691 J. Ray in J. Aubrey Nat. Hist. Wilts. (1847) i. ix. 50 Calver-keys, hare's-parseley, mayden's-honesty, are countrey names unknown to me.
a1697 J. Aubrey Nat. Hist. Wilts. (1847) i. ix. 49 In this ground..wild vetch, maiden's-honesty, polypodium [etc.].
a1697 J. Aubrey Nat. Hist. Wilts. (Bodl. MS Aubrey 1) f. 107 About Michaelmas all the Hedges about Thickwood..are, (as it were hung) with Maydenshonesty: wch looks very fine.
1903 M. Reynolds Poems Anne Countess of Winchilsea Notes 427 (notes) ‘Or honesty with feather'd down.’—A local name for wild clematis, the full name being ‘Maiden's Honesty’.
maiden's wreath n. a Chilean plant of the family Saxifragaceae, Francoa sonchifolia, grown for its decorative clusters of pink or white flowers; cf. bridal wreath n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > saxifrage flowers
prattling parnel1597
pride of London1629
prince's feather1629
London pride1697
none-so-pretty1731
sanicle1760
heuchera1772
nancy-pretty1825
Bergenia1838
St. Patrick's cabbage1851
spider plant1852
strawberry geranium1880
garden gate1881
megasea1886
maiden's wreath1893
mother of thousands1910
1893 W. Robinson Eng. Flower Garden (ed. 3) 419/1 Francoa (Maiden's Wreath).—Chilian plants of the Saxifrage family...They are rather tender.
1908 G. Jekyll Colour in Flower Garden xiii. 116 Maiden's Wreath (Francoa ramosa) is a plant for many uses. The foliage, though sparing in quantity, is distinct and handsome. The long flower-stems are flung out with a kind of determination of character.
1952 A. G. L. Hellyer Sanders' Encycl. Gardening (ed. 22) 198 Francoa (Maiden's Wreath; Bridal Wreath).
C2. Compounds of the adjective.
maiden flight n. the first flight undertaken by an aircraft, spacecraft, etc.; (also) a pilot or passenger's first flight.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > [noun] > a flight through air or space
voyage1726
flight1786
maiden flight1917
run1941
1917 A. G. Bell in L. S. Rowe Proc. 2nd Pan Amer. Sci. Congr. XI. 235 Mr. Santos-Dumont is to be congratulated upon the great success of this, his maiden flight.
1920 Aircraft Jrnl. 5 July 3/2 The representatives of the press..had the distinction of going up on the maiden flight of the flying yacht [sc. a seaplane].
1929 Boys' Life Oct. 15/1 Mark was exceedingly cheerful and knew that he would come through his maiden flight safely.
1946 R.A.F. Jrnl. May 179 In December..the first off the line made its maiden flight.
1992 Astron. Now July 13/3 The maiden flight of the space shuttle Endeavour.
2003 J. R. D. Bednarek & M. Bednarek Dreams of Flight ii. 30 The company produced its first Aeronca C-2, as the aircraft was designated, in October, 1929, and its maiden flight was made on October 20.
maiden lady n. = sense A. 4.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > unmarried person(s) > unmarried woman > [noun]
maid1603
maiden lady1628
bachelora1637
feme sole1714
spinstress1716
maidena1802
spin1842
sworn virgin1910
1628 W. Lathum tr. Virgil Eclogues iv. 69 Astraea, the Mayden-Lady Iustice.
1700 J. Dryden Fables 537 (title) Monument of a fair maiden lady, who dy'd at Bath, and is there Interr'd.
1798 Monthly Mag. 6 75 [Died] At Windsor Castle, Mrs. Hannah Corbett, a maiden lady.
1835 Court Mag. 6 186/1 I..paid a visit to a maiden lady dwelling in the Orange Grove.
1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xciv. 493 The boarding-house..was kept by a bustling maiden lady, with shrewd eyes and voluble speech.
2005 K. C. Krahulik Provincetown iii. 89 While confirmed bachelors made Provincetown into an accepting place by appearing in public in particularly campy or flamboyant clothes, maiden ladies did the same by striking out on their own, donning equally festive attire.
maiden name n. (also †maiden surname) the name or surname of a woman before taking her husband's surname upon marriage.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > naming > name or appellation > [noun] > maiden name
maiden name1686
1686 Strange & Wonderful Hist. Mother Shipton 6 The Child..was ordered..to be christned, which was performed by the name of Ursula Soothtell; For the later was her Mothers, and consequently her Maiden surname.
1773 Life N. Frowde 5 I was baptized by her [sc. the mother's] maiden Name Neville.
1862 G. Borrow Wild Wales III. v. 41 I asked her her maiden name.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xiii. [Nausicaa] 355 Her maiden name was Jemima Brown And she lived with her mother in Irishtown.
1988 S. Bellow Theft 24 Ithiel's ex-wife..now used her maiden name, Etta Wolfenstein.
2007 S. Fox Etiquette for Dummies viii. 119 If Elaine goes by her maiden name, you use Mr. Bill Smith and Dr. Elaine Cox [in addressing an envelope].
maiden number n. rare the number seven, which has no factors or multiples less than ten; cf. a1690 for virgin number n. at virgin n. and adj. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > particular qualities
maiden number1900
1900 New Cent. Rev. 7 374 7 was called the maiden number, because within the decade it has no factors or product.
maiden speech n. the first speech delivered in the British House of Commons or the House of Lords by a new member, or to any such assembly by a new member of that assembly.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > a speech > for specific occasion or purpose
His Majesty's Speech1583
New Year1595
panegyry1602
panegyric1603
remembrancea1616
valediction1619
panegyris1646
areopagitic1649
Hesped1650
allocution1689
maiden speech1702
Speech from the Throne1751
patter1772
inaugural1832
acceptance speech1855
oraison funèbre1856
keynote speech1863
keynote address1891
valedictory1892
keynote1896
pep speech1912
pep talk1913
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > procedure of parliament or national assembly > [noun] > first speech by M.P.
maiden speech1702
1702 R. Cocks Diary 24 Feb. in D. W. Hayton Parl. Diary (1996) 223 Sir John Holland spoke his mayden speech which was very fine.
1790 T. Wilkinson Mem. Own Life II. 8 I had the opportunity of hearing a great man's maiden speech in the House of Commons.
1868 A. Trollope Phineas Finn xxvi. 84/2 Your speech..was about on a par with other maiden speeches in the House of Commons.
1901 W. Churchill Crisis ii. vii. 181 The Senator..is preparing his maiden speech.
2012 C. Reid Imprison'd Wranglers vi. 151 No report of Stanhope's maiden speech survives but evidently it failed to live up to his father's expectations.
maiden voyage n. the first voyage undertaken by a ship or a ship's passenger.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [noun] > by ship
sailinga900
ship-farec1330
maiden voyage1823
society > travel > travel by water > [noun] > a voyage > first one of a ship
maiden voyage1823
shake-down cruise1927
1823 European Mag. Aug. 182/2 His representation of sea-sickness made us deeply sympathise with all the horror of a maiden voyage.
1882 Daily Tel. 4 May The behaviour of the vessel during her maiden voyage.
1901 Scotsman 11 Mar. 8/7 The..steamer..was on her maiden voyage from London to China.
1959 Times 16 Sept. 10/2 The..icebreaker Lenin left Leningrad to-day on her maiden voyage.
2001 W. H. Miller Picture Hist. Brit. Ocean Liners 13/2 On her maiden voyage she [sc. the Titanic] rammed an iceberg and sank with great loss of life.
† maiden-wax n. Obsolete rare = virgin wax n.; wax taken from the comb without melting.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > waxy materials > [noun] > pure wax
virgin waxc1400
maiden-wax1726
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > superfamily Apoidea (bees) > wax
wax805
virgin waxc1400
medewax1416
pissoceros1658
mitys1706
maiden-wax1726
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 50/2 Cramps done over with Maiden-wax..never rot.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

† maidenv.

Forms: 1500s mayden.
Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: maiden n.
Etymology: < maiden n.
Obsolete.
transitive. to maiden it: to act like a maiden; to be coy.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > modesty > shyness or bashfulness > be shy or bashful [verb (intransitive)] > be coy
to make it coya1529
coy1582
to maiden it1597
1597 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. iii. iii. 56 For had I mayden'd it, as many vse, Loath for to graunt, but loather to refuse.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2000; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.adj.OEv.1597
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