Girlfriend

For other uses, see Girlfriend (disambiguation).

Chen Yu-Rong (left) and her girlfriend Wang Ping in front of Image Museum of Hsinchu Culture Bureau ("新竹市文化局影像博物館"). It can also mean a female of whom is in a romantic relationship with another person (usually a male) also.

Girlfriend is a term that can refer to either a female partner in a non-marital romantic relationship or a female non-intimate friend.

Scope

The term is most commonly used to describe any female person who is in a romantic relationship with another person (usually a male).

Partners in such a non-marital relationship are sometimes described instead as a significant other or partner, especially if the two partners are living together. At times, since "girlfriend" and "partner" mean different things to different people, the distinctions between the terms are subjective, and which term is used in a relationship will ultimately be determined by personal preference.

When used by a girl or woman about another female in a non-sexual, non-romantic context, the two-word form "girl friend" is sometimes used to avoid confusion with the sexual or romantic meaning. "Girlfriend" is usually used in terms of very close friends and usually has no sexual connotation in that sense of its usage, but it can, in the case of lesbian and bisexual women. The term also has currency in LGBT communities and can refer to people of any gender or sexuality.

Though nuanced, there is a significant difference between "girlfriend" and "boyfriend", and "girl friend" and "boy friend". In a strictly grammatical sense, a "girlfriend" or "boyfriend" is an individual of significance with whom one shares a relationship. A "girl friend" or "boy friend", however, is simply a friend identified on the basis of gender. The transition between the two is a significant aspect of adolescent development.

Until the last decades of the twentieth century, this term when used between men and women generally did not necessarily imply a sexual relationship, but was used to refer to a woman who was dating a man she was not engaged to, without implying that she was having sex with him. It is still used in this sense when talking about young teenagers (or even pre-teens). With the changes in sexual mores in effect now, the term dating when used to indicate that an adult man and woman have gone out together on a date, can imply sexual activity whereas simply using "friend" would likely avoid inferring such intimacy.

It is essentially equivalent to a prior term used, "sweetheart" which is also a term of endearment.

Synonyms

• A female engaged in an extramarital relationship with a married person is frequently considered a "mistress".
• Some terms of endearment directed to females, a romantic relationship is not required, are "darling", "sweetheart", "lover", "babe" etc.
• Users of Internet slang and sms slang often shorten girlfriend to the acronym gf.
• Additionally, gender-indiscriminate terms also apply, e.g. lover, heartthrob, paramour, squeeze, sweetheart, true love and some more specific terms such as princess, wooer, and gender-neutral ones like date, escort, steady or suitor; furthermore, non-gender specific euphemisms such as admirer, companion.

See also

• Boyfriend
• Lesbian
• Courtship
• Partner
• Significant other
• Terms of endearment

Further reading

• Sociocultural Perspectives on Language Change in Diaspora David R. Andrews (1998); John Benjamins Publishing Company, ISBN 9027218358.
• The Handbook of Language and Gender By Janet Holmes, Miriam Meyerhoff (2003); Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 0631225021.
• In Your Face: Stories from the Lives of Queer Youth Mary L. Gray (1999); Haworth Press, ISBN 0789000768.
• Defining Language: A Local Grammar of Definition Sentences Geoff Barnbrook (2002); John Benjamins Publishing Company, ISBN 1588112985.
• How Not To Say What You Mean: A Dictionary of Euphemisms R. W. Holder (2002); Oxford University Press, ISBN 0198604025.