MAIDEN

inaugural, initiative, initiatory, first, maiden

(adjective) serving to set in motion; “the magazine’s inaugural issue”; “the initiative phase in the negotiations”; “an initiatory step toward a treaty”; “his first (or maiden) speech in Congress”; “the liner’s maiden voyage”

maid, maiden

(noun) an unmarried girl (especially a virgin)

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

maiden (plural maidens)

(now chiefly literary) A girl or an unmarried young woman.

A female virgin.

(obsolete, dialectal) A man with no experience of sex, especially because of deliberate abstention.

A maidservant.

A clothes maiden.

(now rare) An unmarried woman, especially an older woman.

(horse racing) A racehorse without any victory, i.e. one having a "virgin record".

(horse racing) A horse race in which all starters are maidens.

(historical) A Scottish counterpart of the guillotine.

(cricket) A maiden over.

(obsolete) A machine for washing linen.

(Wicca) Alternative form of Maiden

Synonyms

• (unmarried (young) female): bachelorette

Adjective

maiden (not comparable)

Virgin.

(of a female, human or animal) Without offspring.

Like or befitting a (young, unmarried) maiden.

(figuratively) Being a first occurrence or event.

(cricket) Being an over in which no runs are scored.

Fresh; innocent; unpolluted; pure; hitherto unused.

(of a fortress) Never having been captured or violated.

(of a tree) Grown from seed and never pruned

Synonyms

• maidenly

Anagrams

• Damien, Manide, Median, Medina, Midean, aidmen, demain, maenid, mained, median, medina, meidan

Noun

Maiden (plural Maidens)

(Wicca) One of the triune goddesses of the Lady in Wicca alongside the Crone and Mother representing a girl or a young woman

Antonyms

• Master

Proper noun

Maiden

A surname.

Iron Maiden, a heavy metal band from England.

Anagrams

• Damien, Manide, Median, Medina, Midean, aidmen, demain, maenid, mained, median, medina, meidan

Source: Wiktionary

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Maid"en, n. Etym: [OE. maiden, meiden, AS. mægden, dim. of AS. mæg, fr. mago son, servant; akin to G. magd, mädchen, maid, OHG. magad, Icel. mögr son, Goth. magus boy, child, magaps virgin, and perh. to Zend. magu youth. Cf. Maid a virgin.]

1. An unmarried woman; a girl or woman who has not experienced sexual intercourse; a virgin; a maid. She employed the residue of her life to repairing of highways, building of bridges, and endowing of maidens. Carew. A maiden of our century, yet most meek. Tennyson.

2. A female servant. [Obs.]

3. An instrument resembling the guillotine, formerly used in Scotland for beheading criminals. Wharton.

4. A machine for washing linen.

Maid"en, a.

1. Of or pertaining to a maiden, or to maidens; suitable to, or characteristic of, a virgin; as, maiden innocence. "Amid the maiden throng." Addison. Have you no modesty, no maiden shame Shak.

2. Never having been married; not having had sexual intercourse; virgin; -- said usually of the woman, but sometimes of the man; as, a maiden aunt. "A surprising old maiden lady." Thackeray.

3. Fresh; innocent; unpolluted; pure; hitherto unused. "Maiden flowers.' Shak. Full bravely hast thou fleshed Thy maiden sword. Shak.

4. Used of a fortress, signifying that it has never been captured, or violated. T. Warton. Macaulay. Maiden assize (Eng. Law), an assize which there is no criminal prosecution; an assize which is unpolluted with blood. It was usual, at such an assize, for the sheriff to present the judge with a pair of white gloves. Smart.

– Maiden name, the surname of a woman before her marriage.

– Maiden pink. (Bot.) See under Pink.

– Maiden plum (Bot.), a West Indian tree (Comocladia integrifolia) with purplish drupes. The sap of the tree is glutinous, and gives a persistent black stain.

– Maiden speech, the first speech made by a person, esp. by a new member in a public body.

– Maiden tower, the tower most capable of resisting an enemy.

Maid"en, v. t.

Definition: To act coyly like a maiden; -- with it as an indefinite object. For had I maiden'd it, as many use. Loath for to grant, but loather to refuse. Bp. Hall.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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