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• maidenhead
  maidenhead

  noun

  the hymen.
• Maidenhead
  Maidenhead

  noun

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

maidenhead

American  

[meyd-n-hed] / ˈmeɪd nˌhɛd /

noun

1. the hymen.

2. maidenhood; virginity.

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maidenhead ¹ British  

/ ˈmeɪdənˌhɛd /

noun

1. a nontechnical word for the hymen

2. virginity; maidenhood

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Maidenhead ² British  

/ ˈmeɪdənˌhɛd /

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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Etymology

Origin of maidenhead

First recorded in 1200–50, maidenhead is from the Middle English word maidenhed. See maiden, -head

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

maidenhead Maidenhead

But hey, I grew up in maidenhead, so what do I know?

From The Guardian ● Jun. 9, 2014

By my troth and maidenhead, I would not be a queen.

From King Henry VIII by Shakespeare, William

With true-fac'd passion Of modest maidenhead I could adorn me, And to your question make a sober cour'sey, And with close-clipp'd civility be silent; Or else say "No, forsooth," or "Ay, forsooth."

From A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 7 by Various

A rendezvous, a home to fly unto, If that the Devil and mischance look big Upon the maidenhead of our affairs.

From King Henry IV, Part 1 by Shakespeare, William

What I am and what I would are as secret as maidenhead: to your ears, divinity; to any other's, profanation.

From Twelfth Night by Shakespeare, William

Kyran Smith had been at the same party as the woman during a night out in December 2022 when they and others retired to their rooms at the Maidenhead branch of the hotel chain.

From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026

Erin Dempsey taught the pupil history at Furze Platt Senior School in Maidenhead, Berkshire, when she was found to have also inappropriately contacted the pupil on WhatsApp using her personal mobile phone.

From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2026

Ian Shilling was head of music at Newlands Girls' School in Maidenhead between September 2012 and October 2020.

From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026

Ruth Szymankiewicz was being cared for by a member of staff on his first shift who had fake papers at Huntercombe Hospital, near Maidenhead, Berkshire, on 12 February 2022.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025

A watch which had belonged to Dudley, Earl of Leicester, is said to have been presented by Mr. Ralph Howland, of Maidenhead.

From Annals of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, A.D. 1598-A.D. 1867 With a Preliminary Notice of the earlier Library founded in the Fourteenth Century by Macray, William Dunn