Maidenhood
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The condition of being a maiden; the time when one is a maiden or young girl. uncountable
"Thenne she said my lord sir launcelot I biseche yow see me as soone as ye may / for I haue obeyed me vnto the prophecy that my fader teld me / And by his commaūdement to fulfille this prophecy I haue gyuen the grettest rychesse and the fayrest floure that euer I had / and that is my maydenhode that I shalle neuer haue ageyne / and therfore gentyl knyȝt owe me youre good wille"
- 2 the childhood of a girl wordnet
- 3 A woman's virginity or maidenhead. countable, metonymically
- 4 Freshness; newness. broadly, countable, uncountable
Example
More examples""Sychaeus was her lord, in happier time / the richest of Phoenicians far and wide / in land, and worshipped by his hapless bride. / Her, in the bloom of maidenhood, her sire / had given him, and with virgin rites allied.""
Etymology
From Middle English maydenhede, maydenhode, from Old English mæġdenhād (“maidenhood”). By surface analysis, maiden + -hood.
More for "maidenhood"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.