Spinster
/ˈspɪn.stər/noun
A woman who spins thread; later, an older unmarried woman.
Did you know?In Middle English, a spinster was simply a female spinner, and the meaning shifted because spinning was one of the domestic trades most associated with women.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
spinnan
“to draw out and twist fibers into thread”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*spinnaną
“to spin, twist”
Middle English
ME
spinstere
“a woman who spins thread”
14th-15th Century
English
spinster
“a female spinner; later, an unmarried woman”
Modern English
English
spinster
“an older unmarried woman, often with a disparaging tone”