Where does “maiden” come from?
Maiden comes from Middle English maiden, from Old English mæġden, from Old English mæġþ, from Proto-West Germanic magaþ, from Proto-Germanic -īnaz, from Proto-Indo-European maghu-.
maiden (English): A girl or an unmarried young woman; A female...
Definitions
- A girl or an unmarried young woman; A female...
Ancestry of “maiden”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | mayden | — |
| 2 | Old English | mægden | girl; virgin, young unmarried woman |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | magadīn | little girl |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | -īn | Creates adjectives from nouns with the sense... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |
Words derived from “maiden”