spinster

From Middle English spynnestere (“woman who spins fibre”), from c. 1350; equivalent to spin +‎ -ster. The semantic development is from a historical notion of unmarried women spinning thread for a living.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈspɪnstə/

  • Audio (Southern England):

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈspɪnstɚ/

spinster (plural spinsters)

1. (sometimes derogatory) A woman who has never been married, especially one past the typical marrying age according to social traditions.

   Synonym: old maid

   • 1628–1644, Edw[ard] Coke, (please specify |part=1 to 4), London:

     If […] a woman be named spinster, she may abate […] the same [writ].

   • 1993, Vincent Terrace, Television Character and Story Facts, Over 110,000 Details from 1,008 Shows, 1945-1992, page 282:

     Iola Boylen is Mama's longtime friend and neighbor, a spinster who lives with her never-seen domineering mother.

2. One who spins (puts a spin on) a political media story so as to give something a favorable or advantageous appearance; a spin doctor, spin merchant or spinmeister.
3. (obsolete) Someone whose occupation was spinning thread.
   • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:

     The spinsters and the knitters in the sun.

4. (obsolete) A woman of evil life and character; so called from being forced to spin in a house of correction.
5. (rare, dialectal) A spider; an insect (such as a silkworm) which spins thread.

• spinster on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Prentiss, prestins

From spinnen (“to spin”) +‎ -ster.

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spinster f (plural spinsters, diminutive spinstertje n, masculine spinner)

1. spinner (female)