damsel

[ dam-zuhl ]

/ ˈdæm zəl /

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noun Literary.

a young woman or girl; a maiden, originally one of gentle or noble birth.

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Origin of damsel

1150–1200; Middle English damisel<Anglo-French (Old French damoisele) <Vulgar Latin *dominicella, equivalent to Latin domin(a) lady (see dame) + -i--i- + -cella feminine diminutive suffix

Words nearby damsel

damp-mop, damp off, dampproof, damp squib, Damrosch, damsel, damsel bug, damselfish, damselfly, damsel in distress, damson

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use damsel in a sentence

For most of the genre’s history, telenovelas have portrayed female protagonists as damsels in distress who require male saviors.
The House of Flowers Is Proof That Telenovelas Are Changing—and So Is the Way We Watch Them|Suyin Haynes|June 23, 2021|Time
Not only, in the rarest of cases, where there a female lead in a blockbuster action movie, but the damsel in distress was a dude.
Team Peeta or Team Gale: Why the ‘Hunger Games’ Love Triangle Ruins ‘Mockingjay – Part 1’|Kevin Fallon|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ramis and Aykroyd want it both ways: an empowered heroine, and the standard damsel in distress.
The Scathing Sexual Politics of ‘Ghostbusters’|Andy Hoglund|June 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For example: the damsel is tied to the train tracks, the Pacific Union hurtling her way.
Was Aaron Harrison’s Game-Winning Three-Pointer ‘Clutch’?|Robert Silverman|April 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Does the final in the Twilight series or the latest adaptation of the Tolstoy classic handle the damsel-in-distress theme better?
Damsels in Distress Debate: The New ‘Twilight Saga’ vs. ‘Anna Karenina’|Anna Klassen, Marlow Stern|November 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Nicole Kidman stretched as a Southern damsel in The Paperboy, but the movie was widely panned.
In Hollywood, Where Are the Best Actress Oscar Nominees?|Ramin Setoodeh|November 12, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Many other mines used them; one remained at work in Old Wheal Damsel in 1860.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2)|Francis Trevithick
He was met at the gates by a young damsel, habited as Flora, who delivered him the keys of the city.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
The damsel, uninterrupted in her own loquacity, had not discovered that this witty gentleman was——dumb!
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
And such a voice as the little damsel had, it only wanted cultivation to have made her a fortune.
The World Before Them|Susanna Moodie
If the damsel smiled Once in seven years only, All their wanderings dreary Ample guerdon knew.
Crotchet Castle|Thomas Love Peacock

British Dictionary definitions for damsel

damsel

/ (ˈdæmzəl) /

noun

archaic, or poetic a young unmarried woman; maiden

Word Origin for damsel

C13: from Old French damoisele, from Vulgar Latin domnicella (unattested) young lady, from Latin domina mistress; see dame

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

damsel

Origin of damsel

Words nearby damsel

Words related to damsel

How to use damsel in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for damsel

Word Origin for damsel