maiden: [OE] Maiden goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *magadiz ‘young (sexually inexperienced) woman’, which is also the source of German mädchen ‘girl’. Its diminutive form, *magadīnam, passed into Old English as mægden, the antecedent of modern English maiden. Maid is a 12th-century abbreviation.
maiden (n.)
Old English mægden, mæden "maiden, virgin, girl; maid, servant," diminutive of mægð, mægeð "virgin, girl; woman, wife," from Proto-Germanic *magadinom "young womanhood, sexually inexperienced female" (cognates: Old Saxon magath, Old Frisian maged, Old High German magad "virgin, maid," German Magd "maid, maidservant," German Mädchen "girl, maid," from Mägdchen "little maid"), fem. variant of PIE root *maghu- "youngster of either sex, unmarried person" (cognates: Old English magu "child, son, male descendant," Avestan magava- "unmarried," Old Irish maug "slave").
maiden (adj.)
"virgin, unmarried," c. 1300, from maiden (n.). The figurative sense of "new fresh, first" (as in maiden voyage) is first recorded 1550s. Maiden name is from 1680s.
实用例句
1. The prince fell in love with a fair young maiden.
王子爱上了一位年轻美丽的少女.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. The aircraft makes its maiden flight tomorrow.
这架飞机明天首航.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. Her maiden name is Li.
她娘家姓李.
来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
4. Looking up at the eaves, Orchid muttered: " Why isn't Spring Maiden back yet? "
兰花向天井檐上张一张, 自言自语地说: “ 青姑娘还不回来 呢 !
来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
5. In 1912, the Titanic sank on her maiden voyage.