spinster

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun an elderly unmarried woman
  2. noun someone who spins (who twists fibers into threads)

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

old maid

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