damsel

[dam-zuh l]

See more synonyms for damsel on Thesaurus.com

noun Literary.

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

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for damsel

woman, miss, virgin, lass, lady, lassie, colleen

Examples from the Web for damsel

Contemporary Examples of damsel

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
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
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
In the eyes of these designers, this woman is more of a damsel than a dame.
The Oscar de la Renta Effect
Robin Givhan
September 13, 2011

Historical Examples of damsel

Surely, sir, you should take shame to hold the damsel against her will.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
I scrutinised him carefully, while Charlotte ran to comfort the damsel.
The Golden Age
Kenneth Grahame
There may be more than one claimant for the damsel's affection.
The Meaning of Evolution
Samuel Christian Schmucker
Already I have endured more than enough in the interests of this damsel.
St. Martin's Summer
Rafael Sabatini
His face was comely as a damsel's, his eyes blue and his hair golden.
Love-at-Arms
Raphael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for damsel

damsel

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

Word Origin and History for damsel

late 12c., from Old French dameisele "woman of noble birth" (Modern French demoiselle "young lady"), modified (by association with dame) from earlier donsele, from Gallo-Romance *domnicella, diminutive of Latin domina "lady" (see dame). Archaic until revived by romantic poets, along with 16c.-17c. variant form damozel.