spinster
nounUK /ˈspɪnstə/ · US /ˈspɪnstɚ/
Etymology From Middle English spynnestere (“woman who spins fibre”), from c. 1350; equivalent to spin + -ster. The semantic development is from a historical notion of unmarried women spinning thread for a living.
1
Derogatory, Sometimes A woman who has never been married, especially one past the typical marrying age according to social traditions.
- If […] a woman be named spinster, she may abate […]the same [writ].1628–1644, Edw[ard] Coke, (please specify |part=1 to 4), London:
- Iola Boylen is Mama's longtime friend and neighbor, a spinster who lives with her never-seen domineering mother.1993, Vincent Terrace, Television Character and Story Facts, Over 110,000 Details from 1,008 Shows, 1945-1992, page 282:
1 more example
- […]as a young woman she created a scandal by pursuing a passionate affair with a married opera singer, and she has spent the rest of her life as a spinster daydreaming of her long-lost love.1999 November 2, Michiko Kakutani, “Books of The Times: A Single Girl Takes On the California Frontier”, in The New York Times (E section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 7:
2
One who spins (puts a spin on) a political media story so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance; a spin doctor, spin merchant or spinmeister.
3
Obsolete Someone whose occupation was spinning thread.
- The spinsters and the knitters in the sun.c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:
4
Obsolete A woman of evil life and character; so called from being forced to spin in a house of correction.
- Derived terms
- inspin, spinsterdom, spinsterhood, spinsterish, spinsterism, spinsterlike, spinsterly, spinstership, spinstress
- Related terms
- bachelor, bachelorette, divorcee, thornback, widow