different between maiden vs wench

English

Etymology

From Middle English mayden, meiden, from Old English mæ?den (“maiden, virgin, girl, maid, servant”), diminutive of mæ?þ, mæ?eþ (“maiden, virgin, girl, woman, wife”) via diminutive suffix -en, from Proto-West Germanic *magaþ, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs (“maid, virgin”). Equivalent to maid +? -en.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?me?d?n/
• Rhymes: -e?d?n

Noun

maiden (plural maidens)

1. (now chiefly literary) A girl or an unmarried young woman.
2. A female virgin.

3. (obsolete, dialectal) A man with no experience of sex, especially because of deliberate abstention.
4. A maidservant.
5. A clothes maiden.
6. (now rare) An unmarried woman, especially an older woman.
7. (horse racing) A racehorse without any victory, i.e. one having a "virgin record".
8. (horse racing) A horse race in which all starters are maidens.
9. (historical) A Scottish counterpart of the guillotine.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Wharton to this entry?)

10. (cricket) A maiden over.
11. (obsolete) A machine for washing linen.
12. (Wicca) Alternative form of Maiden

Synonyms

• (unmarried (young) female): bachelorette

Derived terms

Related terms

• maid

Translations

Adjective

maiden (not comparable)

1. Virgin.
   • 1857-1859, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Virginians

     a surprising old maiden lady
2. (of a female, human or animal) Without offspring.
3. Like or befitting a (young, unmarried) maiden.
4. (figuratively) Being a first occurrence or event.
5. (cricket) Being an over in which no runs are scored.
6. Fresh; innocent; unpolluted; pure; hitherto unused.
7. (of a fortress) Never having been captured or violated.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of T. Warton to this entry?)
8. (of a tree) Grown from seed and never pruned

Synonyms

• maidenly

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

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

Finnish

Alternative forms

• maitten

Noun

maiden

1. genitive plural of maa

Anagrams

• median

English

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English wench, wenche (“female baby; girl (especially unmarried); maiden, young woman; bondwoman; serving maid; beloved, sweetheart; concubine, mistress; harlot, prostitute”) [and other forms], a shortened form of Middle English wenchel (“girl; maiden; child”), from Old English wen?el, win?el (“child; servant; slave”), from Proto-Germanic *wankil?, from Proto-Germanic *wankijan? (“to sway; waver”). The English word is cognate with Old High German wenken (“to waver; to give way, yield”), wank?n (“to totter”).

The verb and adjective are derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /w?nt?/
• Rhymes: -?nt?

Noun

wench (plural wenches)

1. (archaic, now dialectal or humorous, possibly offensive) A girl or young woman, especially a buxom or lively one.
   1. (specifically) A girl or young woman of a lower class.
2. (archaic or dialectal) Used as a term of endearment for a female person, especially a wife, daughter, or girlfriend: darling, sweetheart.
3. (archaic) A woman servant; a maidservant.
4. (archaic) A promiscuous woman; a mistress (“other woman in an extramarital relationship”).

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:promiscuous woman, Thesaurus:mistress
5. (archaic) A prostitute.
6. (US, archaic or historical) A black woman (of any age), especially if in a condition of servitude.

   Synonym: (dated, literary, now offensive) negress

Derived terms

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: wenke

Translations

Verb

wench (third-person singular simple present wenches, present participle wenching, simple past and past participle wenched)

1. (intransitive, archaic, now humorous) To frequent prostitutes; to whore; also, to womanize.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• wencher

Translations

References

Anagrams

• chewn