Definition of "maiden" in Englisch

noun

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

2. (archaic) A female virgin.

   • She's unmarried and still a maiden.

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.

10. (cricket) A maiden over.

11. (obsolete) A machine for washing linen.

12. (Wicca) Alternative form of Maiden.

adjective

1. Virgin.

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.

   • 1975 was the year when West Indies won their maiden World Cup title.
   • The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage.
   • After Edmund Burke's maiden speech, William Pitt the Elder said Burke had "spoken in such a manner as to stop the mouths of all Europe" and that the Commons should congratulate itself on acquiring such a member.

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

   • He bowled a record twelve maiden overs in his spell of 8-33 in 21 overs.

6. Fresh; innocent; unpolluted; pure; hitherto unused.

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

8. (of a tree) Grown from seed and never pruned.