damsel

• damoisel, damoiselle, damosel, damozel (archaic)

From Middle English dameisele, from Old French damoisele, from Vulgar Latin *domnicella, a diminutive from Classical Latin domina (“mistress, lady”), from dominus, from *demh₂-. Doublet of demoiselle, doncella, and donzella.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdæm.zəl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdæm.zəl/, [ˈdɛəm.zɫ̩]

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• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈdæm.zəl/, [ˈdɛːm.zɫ̩]

damsel (plural damsels)

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

     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!

6. A chattering damsel (component of a mill).
   • 1843, The Magazine of Science, and Schools of Art, volume 4, page 263:

     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, […]

• Medals, Madles, damels, Delmas, delams, lameds, medals