demoiselle

American  

[dem-wuh-zel, dem-uh-, duh-mwa-zel] / ˌdɛm wəˈzɛl, ˌdɛm ə-, də mwaˈzɛl /

noun

demoiselles plural

1. an unmarried girl or young woman.

2. demoiselle crane.

3. a damselfly, especially of the genus Agrion.

4. damselfish.

5. Furniture. a lady's wig stand of the 18th century, in the form of a pedestal table.

---

demoiselle British  

/ dəmwɑːˈzɛl /

noun

1. Also called: demoiselle crane.   Numidian crane.  a small crane, Anthropoides virgo, of central Asia, N Africa, and SE Europe, having grey plumage with long black breast feathers and white ear tufts

2. a less common name for a damselfly

3. another name for damselfish

4. a literary word for damsel

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• demoiselles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of demoiselle

From French, dating back to 1760–70; see origin at damsel