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START / NODE 868Present-Day English14th century–today
girl
A female child or young woman; in Middle English the word could denote a child or young person of either sex.
“Girl was not originally restricted to girls. Middle English girle could denote a child of either sex, and the word’s deeper origin is unknown.”OPEN COMPLETE WORD DOSSIER ↗
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FOLLOW EVERY BRANCH.
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01
PARENT ROUTES1 REVIEWED RELATIONSHIP
Present-Day Englishgirl
female child; young woman
↑GO DEEPER
Middle English · Middle Englishgirlechild or young person of either sex; girl
- SOUND CHANGE
- Middle English girle develops into modern girl with stabilized spelling and pronunciation.
- SEMANTIC CHANGE
- A child or young person of either sex narrows to a female child or young woman.
- SCHOLAR
- Merriam-Webster Editors · American Heritage Dictionary Editors · Middle English Dictionary Editors
- CONFIDENCE
- established
- CHRONOLOGY
- Recorded in the fourteenth century.
2 CITATIONSGirl — Definition, Word History, and First Known UseWord History: Middle English gurle or girle, young person of either sex girle — Middle English DictionarySenses: child of either sex; girl or young woman AUDIT CANONICAL EDGE 869 ↗
Publishes the broad medieval sense and fourteenth-century horizon.
ORIGINAL ↗Documents the Middle English semantic range directly.
ORIGINAL ↗THE ASTERISK IS A PROMISE
RECONSTRUCTION IS
NOT INSCRIPTION.
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