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Origin and history of spinster

spinster(n.)

late 14c., spinnestre, "woman who spins, female spinner of thread," from spin (v.) + -stere, feminine suffix (see -ster). Unmarried women were expected to occupy themselves with spinning, hence in documents from 1600s to early 1900s the word came to be "the legal designation in England of all unmarried women from a viscount's daughter downward" [Century Dictionary], and by 1719 was being used generically for a woman still unmarried and beyond the usual age for it.

Spinster, a terme, or an addition in our Common Law, onely added in Obligations, Euidences, and Writings, vnto maids vnmarried. [John Minsheu, "Ductor in Linguas," 1617]

Strictly in reference to those who spin, spinster also was used of both sexes (compare webster, Baxter, brewster) and so a double-feminine form emerged, spinstress "a female spinner" (1640s), which by 1716 also was being used for "a maiden lady." Related: Spinsterhood; spinsterdom; spinstership. The 19c. slang shortening spin is attested from 1842.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to spinster

Baxter

surname, Middle English Bacestere (11c.), literally "baker;" see bake (v.) + -ster. Compare Old English bæcestre, fem. of bæcere "baker," which seems to suggest the surname meant "female baker," but Reaney ("Dictionary of English Surnames") notes that "Baxter is found mainly in the Anglian counties and is used chiefly of men. Only two examples have been noted with a woman's christian name."

brewster(n.)

"one who makes and sells ale, a brewer," early 14c. (early 13c. as a surname), probably originally "a female brewer" (though most of the early surnames on the records are of men), from brew (v.) + -ster. Compare Old French braceresse, Medieval Latin brasiatrix "female brewer," and Clarice le Breweres on the 1312 Colchester Borough Court Rolls.

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More to explore

spin
Middle English spinnen, from Old English spinnan (transitive) "draw out and twist (raw fibers) into thread," strong verb (past tense spann, past participle spunnen), from Proto-Germanic *spenwan (source also of Old Norse and Old Frisian spinna, Danish spinde, Dutch spinnen, Old H
tabby
be influenced by the fem. proper name Tabby, a pet form of Tabitha, which was used in late 18c. as slang for "spiteful spinster...
thread
Old English þræd "fine cord, especially when twisted" (related to þrawan "to twist"), from Proto-Germanic *thredu- "twisted yarn" (source also of Old Saxon thrad, Old Frisian thred, Middle Dutch draet, Dutch draad, Old High German drat, German Draht, Old Norse þraðr), literally "
old
Old English ald (Anglian), eald (West Saxon, Kentish) "antique, of ancient origin, belonging to antiquity, primeval; long in existence or use; near the end of the normal span of life; elder, mature, experienced," from Proto-Germanic *althaz "grown up, adult" (source also of Old F
maid
c. 1200 (late 12c. in place names and surnames), "an unmarried woman (usually young); the Virgin Mary;" shortening of maiden (n.). Like that word, used in Middle English of unmarried men as well as women (as in maiden-man, c. 1200, which was used of both sexes, reflecting also th
Creole
"person born in a country but of a people not indigenous to it," c. 1600, from French créole (17c.), from Spanish criollo "(person) native to a locality," from Portuguese crioulo, diminutive of cria "person (especially a servant) raised in one's house," from criar "to raise or br
worry
c. 1300, wirien, "to slay, kill or injure by biting and shaking the throat" (as a dog or wolf does), from Old English wyrgan "to strangle," from Proto-Germanic *wurgjan (source also of Middle Dutch worghen, Dutch worgen, Old High German wurgen, German würgen "to strangle," Old No
meditation
c. 1200, meditacioun, "contemplation; devout preoccupation; private devotions, prayer," from Old French meditacion "thought, reflection, study," and directly from Latin meditationem (nominative meditatio) "a thinking over, meditation," noun of action from past-participle stem of
dwell
Old English dwellan "to lead into error, deceive, mislead," related to dwelian "to be led into error, go wrong in belief or judgment," from Proto-Germanic *dwaljana "to delay, hesitate," *dwelana "go astray" (source also of Old Norse dvelja "to retard, delay," Danish dvæle “to li
tuberculosis
1860, "disease characterized by tubercules," a medical Latin hybrid, from Latin tuberculum "small swelling, pimple," diminutive of tuber "lump" (from PIE root *teue- "to swell") + -osis, a suffix of Greek origin. So called in reference to the tubercules which form in the lungs. O

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