Maid
The term maiden originally stood for a young noblewoman, analogous to the Junker , the "young gentleman" (ie noblewoman). The term split off to designate young female servants ( chambermaid ) and is now a synonym for virgin as well as in the combination of "old maid" a pejorative for a woman who was never married.
etymology
The Brothers Grimm write in their German dictionary:
"Jungfer, based on the concept of the young mistress .... In contrast to the elderly, the actual wife of the house, first describes the unmarried daughter of the house, then the unmarried daughter in general, as an honorable name, where today we use the full virgin or, if more one title [...] should be emphasized, use miss: maiden maiden, is a special maid who has to serve the maiden from home alone and wait for her. "
In Krünitz's Economic Encyclopedia (1773 to 1858), the use of the term Jungfer is noted:
"Your maiden daughter, maiden sister: In this sense, there are unmarried persons of the female sex as an honorary title, whom one does not want to and may not simply name by their name, and also does not consider noble enough, them with Franz. Mamsell or Mademoiselle to address, such are especially daughters of common citizens, and others of their class. "
Other names
As Virgin (virgins) are also distinguished by parthenogenesis wingless generations of proliferating, aphids called. In northern Germany , the hand- ram used by road construction workers to pound the freshly laid pavement was also called "maid".
Based on the term, the maiden in the green ( Nigella damascena ), a flower from the buttercup family , and many dragonflies (e.g. mosaic maidens , mermaids , azure maidens , pond maidens ) as well as the ant maids are named.
Other terms derived from Jungfer include:
- Maiden voyage : first voyage of a ship
- Maiden flight : first flight of an aircraft
- Hymenoptera : hymen
- Virgin generation : form of asexual reproduction
Web links
- Maid . In: Heinrich August Pierer , Julius Löbe (Hrsg.): Universal Lexicon of the Present and the Past . 4th edition. tape 9 . Altenburg 1860, p. 182 ( zeno.org ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brockhaus 2004
- ↑ Maiden. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 10 : H, I, J - (IV, 2nd division). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1877, Sp. 2381-2384 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ).
- ↑ JG Krünitz: Economic Encyclopedia or general system of the state, city, house and agriculture. ( kruenitz1.uni-trier.de ).