pucelle
noun/pʊˈsɛl/
Etymology From Anglo-Norman pucele, Middle French pucele, perhaps from a Late Latin *pullicella, but the further etymology is disputed. Compare Sicilian pulla.
1
Archaic A girl, a maiden; a virgin (often with reference to Joan of Arc).
- But what's that Puzell whom they tearme so pure?1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
- Lady or pucelle, that wears mask or fan.c. 1608, Ben Jonson, letter to John Fletcher:
2 more examples
- There might have been a hundred Jeanne d'Arcs, all definable as pucelle or maid, just as we say “spinster”: we even read of one in the time of the Revolution.1876, John Fiske, “Historical Difficulties”, in The Unseen World, and Other Essays:
- Seven weeks before, Joan of Arc had ridden into Orleans. She was at the height of her strange career.…‘Maid or Witch, Pucelle or Puzzell – she is very hard to understand.’1976, Robert Nye, Falstaff:
2
Obsolete A prostitute, a slut.