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Synonyms for spinster

Grammar : Noun
Spell : spin-ster
Phonetic Transcription : ˈspɪn stər

Définition of spinster

Origin :
  • mid-14c., "female spinner of thread," from Middle English spinnen (see spin) + -stere, feminine suffix. Spinning commonly done by unmarried women, hence the word came to denote "an unmarried woman" in legal documents from 1600s to early 1900s, and by 1719 was being used generically for "woman still unmarried and beyond the usual age for it."
  • Spinster, a terme, or an addition in our Common Law, onely added in Obligations, Euidences, and Writings, vnto maids vnmarried. [John Minsheu, "Ductor in Linguas," 1617]
  • noun unmarried woman
Example sentences :
  • It would have pleased Richard best to have had her remain a spinster.
  • Extract from : « Mistress Wilding » by Rafael Sabatini
  • “You can deal with the maid betwixt you two,” pursued the spinster.
  • Extract from : « Clare Avery » by Emily Sarah Holt
  • Her own idea was that, if she lived long enough, she would become a spinster.
  • Extract from : « All Roads Lead to Calvary » by Jerome K. Jerome
  • Spinner and spinster are the only pair of such words, which still survive.
  • Extract from : « English Past and Present » by Richard Chevenix Trench
  • My quaint New England spinster is gone and with her all the point of my playlet.
  • Extract from : « Jane Journeys On » by Ruth Comfort Mitchell
  • He was a bachelor, she a spinster; she had money, and he position.
  • Extract from : « Major Vigoureux » by A. T. Quiller-Couch
  • And she gave the spinster an encouraging pat on her shoulder.
  • Extract from : « The Lost Despatch » by Natalie Sumner Lincoln
  • The spinster's eyes filled with tears when she first saw Nancy.
  • Extract from : « The Lost Despatch » by Natalie Sumner Lincoln
  • He had married Lillian Garner, who was described as a spinster.
  • Extract from : « The Opal Serpent » by Fergus Hume
  • “Where, now, Major Frank has the command,” put in the spinster.
  • Extract from : « Major Frank » by A. L. G. Bosboom-Toussaint

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019