Etymology Explorer › Middle French

Where does “pucelle” come from?

pucelle (Middle French) comes from Old French pucele, from Old French pulcella, from Vulgar Latin pullicella.

Ancestry of “pucelle”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchpucelea young, unmarried woman; a virgin
2Old Frenchpulcella—
3Vulgar Latinpullicella—

Words derived from “pucelle”

  • puzzel
  • pucelage
  • depucelate
  • dépucellement
  • pucelage
  • pucelle
  • dépuceler
  • pucelage
Every word from Vulgar Latin pullicella →