maiden: [OE] Maiden goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *magadiz ‘young (sexually inexperienced) woman’, which is also the source of German m?dchen ‘girl’. Its diminutive form, *magadīnam, passed into Old English as m?gden, the antecedent of modern English maiden. Maid is a 12th-century abbreviation.
maiden (n.)
Old English m?gden, m?den "maiden, virgin, girl; maid, servant," diminutive of m?ge, m?gee "virgin, girl; woman, wife," from Proto-Germanic *magadinom "young womanhood, sexually inexperienced female" (cognates: Old Saxon magath, Old Frisian maged, Old High German magad "virgin, maid," German Magd "maid, maidservant," German M?dchen "girl, maid," from M?gdchen "little maid"), fem. variant of PIE root *maghu- "youngster of either sex, unmarried person" (cognates: Old English magu "child, son, male descendant," Avestan magava- "unmarried," Old Irish maug "slave").
maiden (adj.)
"virgin, unmarried," c. 1300, from maiden (n.). The figurative sense of "new fresh, first" (as in maiden voyage) is first recorded 1550s. Maiden name is from 1680s.
雙語例句
1. The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.
王子愛上了一位年輕美麗的少女.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
2. The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.
這架飛機(jī)明天首航.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
3. Her maiden name is Li.
她娘家姓李.
來自《現(xiàn)代漢英綜合大詞典》
4. Looking up at the eaves, Orchid muttered: " Why isn't Spring Maiden back yet? "
蘭花向天井檐上張一張, 自言自語地說: “ 青姑娘還不回來 呢 !
來自漢英文學(xué) - 散文英譯
5. In 1912, the Titanic sank on her maiden voyage.