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maidenhead

[meyd-n-hed]
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noun
  1. the hymen.
  2. maidenhood; virginity.
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Origin of maidenhead

First recorded in 1200–50, maidenhead is from the Middle English word maidenhed. See maiden, -head
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for maidenhead

Historical Examples

  • All the better for you, for you can sell your maidenhead after having had two lovers.

    The Memoires of Casanova, Complete

    Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

  • I make it eleven because if it's fine we might run down and have the day at Maidenhead.

  • How he betrayed his friends at Maidenhead Bridge is recounted in the text.

  • I wrote to the man I know at Maidenhead to have a boat ready—a good one.

  • Maidenhead bridges, rail and road, span the river above Bray.

    The Thames

    G. E. Mitton

British Dictionary definitions for maidenhead

maidenhead

noun
  1. a nontechnical word for the hymen
  2. virginity; maidenhood
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Word Origin

C13: from maiden + -hed, variant of -hood

Maidenhead

noun
  1. a town in S England, in Windsor and Maidenhead unitary authority, Berkshire, on the River Thames. Pop: 58 848 (2001)
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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 maidenhead

n.

c.1200, from maiden (n.) + -head (see godhead). Cf. also maidehede (c.1200) "celibacy, virginity" (of men or women).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
maidenhead in Medicine

maidenhead

(mād′n-hĕd′)
n.
  1. The condition or quality of being a maiden; virginity.
  2. The hymen.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.