maiden

plural maidens

1. literaryA girl or an unmarried young woman.
2. archaicA female virgin.

   She's unmarried and still a maiden.

   Synonyms: bachelorette

3. dialectalobsoleteA man with no experience of sex, especially because of deliberate abstention.

   As for that ſaid ſire Bors I wille be ſhryuen with a good wylle / Soo ſyr Bors was confeſſyd / and for al wymmen ſir Bors was a vyrgyne / ſauf for one / that was the doughter of kynge Brangorys / and on her he gat a child that hyghte Elayne / and ſauf for her ſyre Bors was a clene mayden[…]

   As for that, said Sir Bors, I will be shriven with a good will. So Sir Bors was confessed, and for all women Sir Bors was a virgin, save for one, that was the daughter of King Brangoris, and with her he begat a child that hight Elaine, and save for her Sir Bors was a clean maiden.

   1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum Quartum”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book XI (in Middle English), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC, leaf 289, recto; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur […], London: David Nutt, […], 1889, →OCLC, page 577

4. A maidservant.
5. A clothes maiden.
6. archaicAn unmarried woman, especially an older woman.
7. hobbiesA racehorse without any victory, i.e. one having a "virgin record".
8. hobbiesA horse race in which all starters are maidens.
9. historicalA Scottish counterpart of the guillotine.

   It had been customary during the whole civil war, to decapitate state criminals by the instrument called the maiden; but Montrose was condemned to a more ignominious death , by a gibbet thirty feet high

   1832, Robert Chambers, The History of Scotland

10. ball gamesA maiden over.
11. obsoleteA machine for washing linen.
12. alternativeWiccaAlternative form of Maiden.

1. not comparableVirgin.

   a surprising old maiden lady

   1857–1859, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, The Virginians. A Tale of the Last Century, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1858–1859, →OCLC

   1 more example

   It was just the middle of October when I moved in with my maiden sister […]

   1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House

2. not comparablehuman or animalWithout offspring.
3. not comparableLike or befitting a (young, unmarried) maiden.

   Haue you no modeſty, no maiden ſhame, / No touch of baſhfulneſſe?

   c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 155, column 2

4. figurativelynot comparableBeing a first occurrence or event.

   The Titanic sank on its maiden voyage.

   3 more examples

   1975 was the year when West Indies won their maiden World Cup title.

   After Edmund Burke's maiden speech, William Pitt the Elder said Burke had "spoken in such a manner as to stop the mouths of all Europe" and that the Commons should congratulate itself on acquiring such a member.

   Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado took his maiden victory and Williams's first since 2004 in a strategic battle with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso.

   2012 May 13, Andrew Benson, “Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win”, in BBC Sport

5. not comparableball gamesBeing an over in which no runs are scored.

   He bowled a record twelve maiden overs in his spell of 8-33 in 21 overs.

6. not comparableFresh; innocent; unpolluted; pure; hitherto unused.

   Come Brother Iohn, full brauely haſt thou fleſht thy Maiden ſword.

   c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv], page 72, column 2

   1 more example

   When I am dead, good Wench, / Let me be vs’d with Honor; ſtrew me ouer / With Maiden Flowers, that all the world may know / I was a chaſte Wife, to my Graue: Embalme me, / Then lay me forth (although vnqueen’d) yet like / A Queene, and Daughter to a King enterre me.

   1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 226, column 2

7. not comparableNever having been captured or violated.

   Victorie forsook him for ever since he ransacked the maiden town of Magdenburg

   1631, J. Taylor, (Please provide the book title or journal name)

   1 more example

   But every citizen considered his own honor as bound up with the honor of the maiden fortress.

   1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC

8. not comparableGrown from seed and never pruned.

plural Maidens · alternative Mayden

1. WiccaOne of the triune goddesses of the Lady in Wicca alongside the Crone and Mother representing a girl or a young woman

   The Lady is often thought of as having three aspects: Maiden, Mother, and Crone.

   2004, Aurora Greenbough, Cathy Jewell, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Spells and Spellcraft, page 9

   1 more example

   […] different stages of life as represented by our Lady as Maiden, Mother, and Crone, as well as our Lord as Master, Father, and Sage.

   2002, A.J. Drew, Wicca for Couples: Making Magick Together, page 90

alternative Mayden

1. astrologyThe constellation and zodiacal sign Virgo.

   "'Tis the simplest thing in the world, sir," said Sheridan. "Virgo, the Maiden, follows Leo, the Lion, in society, as well as in the Zodiac."

   1905 March 4, The Australasian, Melbourne, page 49, column 4

   1 more example

   In the top left-hand corner was the emblem of the company - a young woman holding up an ear of corn. The stranger had given him the Sign of the Maiden!

   1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 88

alternative Mayden

1. A surname.
2. Iron Maiden, a heavy metal band from England.