Etymology

pucelle

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Today it means: A girl, a maiden; a virgin (often with reference to Joan of Arc). Full definition →

Anglo-Norman pucele ← Middle French pucele ← Late Latin *pullicella
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The story

  1. Late Latin · derived from*pullicella
  2. Middle French · derived frompucele
  3. Anglo-Norman · derived frompucele
  4. English todaypucelle

From Anglo-Norman pucele, Middle French pucele, perhaps from a Late Latin *pullicella, but the further etymology is disputed. Compare Sicilian pulla.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.