damsel

plural damsels · alternative archaic damoisel · alternative archaic damoiselle · alternative archaic damosel · alternative archaic damozel

1. A young woman (of noble birth).
2. A girl; a maiden (without sexual experience).
3. A young woman who is not married.
4. An unmarried lady-in-waiting.
5. A young, attractive woman.

   1 more example

   And here I might (if I followed the example of most travellers) launch out into a glowing description of the charms of these damsels, the elegant costumes they wore, and the gold and silver ornaments with which they were adorned. The jacket or body of purple gauze would figure well in such a description, allowing the heaving bosom to be seen beneath it, while "sparkling eyes," and "jetty tresses," and "tiny feet" might be thrown in profusely. But, alas!

   1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 343

6. A chattering damsel (component of a mill).

   The spout that conveys the grain from the hopper to the eye or centre of the upper millstone rests against the spindle, just at the damsel, and thus receives an alternate back and forward motion, […]

   1843, The Magazine of Science, and Schools of Art, volume 4, page 263