maiden
Americannoun
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maidens
plural
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a girl or young unmarried woman; maid.
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Archaic. a female virgin.
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Maiden, (in Neopaganism) the first form of the Goddess, represented as a young woman and said to symbolize youth and the first stages of life or growth.
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a horse that has never won a race.
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a race open only to maiden horses.
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an instrument resembling the guillotine, formerly used in Scotland for beheading criminals.
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Cricket. maiden over.
adjective
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Archaic. of, relating to, or befitting a girl or unmarried woman.
her maiden virtues.
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Archaic. (of a woman, especially one past middle age) unmarried.
my maiden aunt.
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(of a girl or woman) never having had sexual intercourse; virgin.
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made, tried, appearing, etc., for the first time.
a maiden flight.
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(of a horse) never having won a race or a prize.
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(of a prize or a race) offered for or open only to maiden horses.
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untried, as a knight, soldier, or weapon.
noun
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archaic
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a young unmarried girl, esp when a virgin
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( as modifier )
a maiden blush
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horse racing
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a horse that has never won a race
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( as modifier )
a maiden race
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cricket See maiden over
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Also called: clothes maiden. dialect a frame on which clothes are hung to dry; clothes horse
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(modifier) of or relating to an older unmarried woman
a maiden aunt
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(modifier) of or involving an initial experience or attempt
a maiden voyage
maiden speech
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(modifier) (of a person or thing) untried; unused
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(modifier) (of a place) never trodden, penetrated, or captured
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of maiden
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English mægden, equivalent to mægd, mæg(e)th (cognate with German Magd, Gothic magaths ) + -en -en 5
Explanation
Maiden is an old-fashioned term for a girl or an unmarried young woman. If you like reading fantasy novels, you've probably encountered plenty of knights and maidens — and maybe even a dragon or two. These days, you will hardly ever see this word used to mean an unmarried woman, except maybe humorously. However, you will see it used when discussing the maiden voyage of a ship or plane: in both cases, the word indicates youth and inexperience. Also, the maiden name of a married woman is her name before marriage, a name many women keep after marriage too. There is also a meaning of maiden in the baseball-like British game of cricket.
Vocabulary lists containing maiden
Drama
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I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912
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"A Night to Remember" by Walter Lord
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Woods, who competes using her maiden name Sophie Amy Grant, set off on July 4 in Trieste, Italy, and finished on the Mediterranean coast of Monaco.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
More than eight years after Boeing organized the maiden flight of the 737 MAX 7, US authorities announced Monday that they certified the aircraft.
From Barron's ● Aug. 3, 2026
The letter was addressed to me using my maiden name and sent to my current address.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 31, 2026
Her maiden name was Proudlove and she had a brother who was adopted before she was born.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
“The maiden will be safe with me,” Sir Stephan vowed.
From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine
Their breakthrough arrives with a performance of Temple Maiden, a dance tracing the love and envy of two maidens who turn into serpents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
She conceded just 17 runs in her 10 overs, three of which were maidens and into the bargain accounted for four wickets.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2025
She told Newsday afterward that the most difficult clue was in the third puzzle: “Greek festival maidens with baskets on their heads.”
From New York Times ● May 3, 2024
As Ahmed put together a spell either side of lunch, he bowled England's first maidens and had Shreyas Iyer caught in the deep in the leg side for 35.
From BBC ● Jan. 26, 2024
They knew every character and every line and had learned how to swoon like aristocratic maidens.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
