The First Girls in England

The First Girls in England

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) entry for 'girl' was revised in 2008, and not surprisingly, it was decided that the origin of the word is unknown. It is first attested about 1300 but does not become common until after 1400. The two main etymological theories are those of Robinson sugge...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Notes and queries 2020-06, Vol.67 (2), p.200-202
1. Verfasser: Briggs, Keith
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
British English
Diminutives and augmentatives
English language
Etymology
Females
Germanic languages
Girls
Low German
Old English
Suffixes
Word meaning
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) entry for 'girl' was revised in 2008, and not surprisingly, it was decided that the origin of the word is unknown. It is first attested about 1300 but does not become common until after 1400. The two main etymological theories are those of Robinson suggesting an origin in Old English (OE) gyrela, a word for a type of clothing; and the proposal of a connection (with a diminutive suffix) with various continental Germanic words such as Middle Low German (MLG) gor, with the meaning 'girl'.
ISSN:0029-3970
1471-6941
DOI:10.1093/notesj/gjaa009