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Spinster

//ˈspɪnstə// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A woman who has never been married, especially one past the typical marrying age according to social traditions. derogatory, sometimes

    "If […] a woman be named spinster, she may abate […]the same [writ]."

  2. 2
    someone who spins (who twists fibers into threads) wordnet
  3. 3
    One who spins (puts a spin on) a political media story so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance; a spin doctor, spin merchant or spinmeister.
  4. 4
    an elderly unmarried woman wordnet
  5. 5
    Someone whose occupation was spinning thread. obsolete

    "The spinsters and the knitters in the sun."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    A woman of evil life and character; so called from being forced to spin in a house of correction. obsolete
  2. 7
    A spider; an insect (such as a silkworm) which spins thread. dialectal, rare

Etymology

From Middle English spynnestere (“woman who spins fibre”), from c. 1350; equivalent to spin + -ster. The semantic development is from a historical notion of unmarried women spinning thread for a living.

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