spinster

Definition

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

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.

Example Sentences

• "If […] a woman be named spinster, she may abate […]the same [writ]."
• "The spinsters and the knitters in the sun."

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