Adjacent Words

Girl definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GIRL, n. gerl. [Low L. gerula, a young woman employed in tending children and carrying them about, from gero, to carry; a word probably received from the Romans while in England.]
1. A female child, or young woman. In familiar language, any young unmarried woman.
2. Among sportsmen, a roebuck of two years old.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a young woman; "a young lady of 18" [syn: girl, miss, missy, young lady, young woman, fille]
2: a youthful female person; "the baby was a girl"; "the girls were just learning to ride a tricycle" [syn: female child, girl, little girl] [ant: boy, male child]
3: a female human offspring; "her daughter cared for her in her old age" [syn: daughter, girl] [ant: boy, son]
4: a girl or young woman with whom a man is romantically involved; "his girlfriend kicked him out" [syn: girlfriend, girl, lady friend]
5: a friendly informal reference to a grown woman; "Mrs. Smith was just one of the girls"

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English gurle, girle young person of either sex Date: 14th century 1. a. a female child from birth to adulthood b. daughter c. a young unmarried woman d. sometimes offensive a single or married woman of any age 2. a. sweetheart b. sometimes offensive a female servant or employee • girlhood noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a female child or youth. 2 colloq. a young (esp. unmarried) woman. 3 colloq. a girlfriend or sweetheart. 4 a female servant. Phrases and idioms: girl Friday see FRIDAY. Derivatives: girlhood n. Etymology: ME gurle, girle, gerle, perh. rel. to LG gör child

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Girl Girl, n. [OE. girle, gerle, gurle, a girl (in sense 1): cf. LG. g["o]r child.] 1. A young person of either sex; a child. [Obs.] --Chaucer. 2. A female child, from birth to the age of puberty; a young maiden. 3. A female servant; a maidservant. [U. S.] 4. (Zo["o]l.) A roebuck two years old. [Prov. Eng.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(girls) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. A girl is a female child. ...an eleven year old girl... I must have been a horrid little girl. N-COUNT 2. You can refer to someone's daughter as a girl. We had a little girl. N-COUNT 3. Young women are often referred to as girls. This use could cause offence. ...a pretty twenty-year old girl. N-COUNT 4. Some people refer to a man's girlfriend as his girl. (INFORMAL) I've been with my girl for nine years. N-COUNT

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

gurl: Twice in the Old Testament as the rendering of yaldah (Joe 3:3; Zec 8:5), in both cases in association with boys. Same word rendered "damsel" in Ge 34:4.

See DAUGHTER; MAID, MAIDEN.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Lass, lassie, damsel, miss, maiden, maid, virgin, young woman, young unmarried woman.

Moby Thesaurus

Dulcinea, Eve, Frau, Fraulein, abigail, amah, au pair girl, ayah, babe, baby, best girl, betrothed, betweenmaid, biddy, bird, broad, chambermaid, chaperon, chick, colleen, companion, cook, crumpet, cutie, dame, damoiselle, damsel, daughter of Eve, deb, debutante, demoiselle, distaff, doll, domina, donna, dowager, dream girl, duenna, female, femme, femme de chambre, fiancee, fille de chambre, filly, frail, friend, frow, gal, gamine, gentlewoman, gill, girl friend, girlie, handmaid, handmaiden, heifer, hired girl, housemaid, hoyden, inamorata, jeune fille, jill, jo, junior miss, kitchenmaid, lady, lady friend, lady love, lady-help, lady-in-waiting, lass, lassie, little missy, live-in maid, live-out maid, lover, mademoiselle, maid, maiden, maidservant, matron, milady, miss, missy, mistress, moll, mouse, nursemaid, nymphet, old lady, parlormaid, piece, quail, quiff, romp, schoolgirl, schoolmaid, schoolmiss, scullery maid, servant girl, servitress, skirt, slip, soubrette, squaw, squeeze, subdeb, subdebutante, subteen, subteener, sweetheart, tally, teenybopper, tomato, tomboy, tweeny, twist, upstairs maid, virgin, vrouw, wahine, waiting maid, weaker vessel, wench, woman, young creature, young thing