Maiden to Mainor
Maiden
(Maid"en) n. [OE. maiden, meiden, AS. mægden, dim. of AS. mæg, fr. mago son, servant; akin
to G. magd, mädchen, maid, OHG. magad, Icel. mögr son, Goth. magus boy, child, magaps virgin,
and perh. to Zend. magu youth. Cf. Maid a virgin.]
1. An unmarried woman; a girl or woman who has not experienced sexual intercourse; a virgin; a maid.
She employed the residue of her life to repairing of highways, building of bridges, and endowing of maidens.
Carew.
A maiden of our century, yet most meek.
Tennyson. 2. A female servant. [Obs.]
3. An instrument resembling the guillotine, formerly used in Scotland for beheading criminals. Wharton.
4. A machine for washing linen.
Maiden
(Maid"en), a.
1. Of or pertaining to a maiden, or to maidens; suitable to, or characteristic of, a virgin; as, maiden innocence.
"Amid the maiden throng." Addison.
Have you no modesty, no maiden shame ?
Shak. 2. Never having been married; not having had sexual intercourse; virgin; — said usually of the woman, but
sometimes of the man; as, a maiden aunt. "A surprising old maiden lady." Thackeray.
3. Fresh; innocent; unpolluted; pure; hitherto unused. "Maiden flowers." Shak.
Full bravely hast thou fleshed
Thy maiden sword.
Shak. 4. Used of a fortress, signifying that it has never been captured, or violated. T. Warton. Macaulay.
Maiden assize (Eng. Law), an assize which there is no criminal prosecution; an assize which is unpolluted
with blood. It was usual, at such an assize, for the sheriff to present the judge with a pair of white gloves.
Smart. — Maiden name, the surname of a woman before her marriage. — Maiden pink. (Bot.)
See under Pink. — Maiden plum (Bot.), a West Indian tree (Comocladia integrifolia) with purplish
drupes. The sap of the tree is glutinous, and gives a persistent black stain. — Maiden speech, the
first speech made by a person, esp. by a new member in a public body. — Maiden tower, the tower
most capable of resisting an enemy.
Maiden
(Maid"en), v. t. To act coyly like a maiden; — with it as an indefinite object.
For had I maiden'd it, as many use.
Loath for to grant, but loather to refuse.
Bp. Hall. Maidenhair
(Maid"en*hair`) n. (Bot.) A fern of the genus Adiantum having very slender graceful stalks.
It is common in the United States, and is sometimes used in medicine. The name is also applied to
other species of the same genus, as to the Venus-hair.
Maiden grass, the smaller quaking grass. — Maiden tree. See Ginkgo.
Maidenhead
(Maid"en*head) n. [See Maidenhood.]
1. The state of being a maiden; maidenhood; virginity. Shak.
