What are spinsters?

Answer 1

The word is an old-fashioned expression (seldom used today) for a woman who has never married; when it was commonly used, it carried a negative connotation, since women back then were expected to have a husband. The term was derived from the word for a woman who was a spinner of wool (spinning and weaving were activities that were considered part of a woman's home duties, but some unmarried women also made a living this way). Calling a woman a spinster meant she was considered too old, outside the "normal" age for marriage.

Answer 2

The noun 'spinster' is a word for a woman who is past a child bearing age but has never married.

The term stems from an era when most females were not educated and if not married became a dependent in the household of a family member. One of the jobs frequently assigned to an adult dependent family member (everyone had to earn their keep) was spinning wool and thread, literally the family spinster.

This may lead you to believe that the opposite of spinster would be bachelor, a male who has never married. That is not correct because an unmarried man of any age is not past an age for (the expectation of) siring children. Due to the gender disparity for most of society at the time the word 'spinster' was commonly used, no corresponding noun for a male was used.

Answer 3

A spinster (or old maid) is a woman or girl of marriageable age who has been unwilling or unable to marry and, therefore, has no children. Socially, the term is usually applied only to women who are regarded as beyond the customary age for marriage, and is generally considered an insulting term, more degrading than the term "bachelor" for males. While men can continue to have children into their 70s or 80s, women generally become less and less able to bear children as they get older. So the term "old maid" is only applied to women who are past a child bearing age but have never married.

Answer 4

In English there are no masculine or feminine forms. English uses gender specific nouns for male or female.

The noun 'spinster' is a gender specific noun for a womanwho is past a child bearing age but has never married.

The term stems from an era when most females were not educated and if not married became a dependent in the household of a family member. One of the jobs frequently assigned to an adult, dependent family member (everyone had to earn their keep) was spinning wool and thread, literally the family spinster.

Many believe that the opposite word for spinster is bachelor, a male who has never married. That is not correct because an unmarried man of any age is not past an age for (the expectation of) siring children. Due to the gender disparity for most of society at the time the word 'spinster' was commonly used, no corresponding noun for a male was used.

Answer 5

The noun 'spinster' is a word for a woman who is past a child bearing age but has never married.

The term stems from an era when most females were not educated and if not married became a dependent in the household of a family member. One of the jobs frequently assigned to an adult dependent family member (everyone had to earn their keep) was spinning wool and thread, literally the family spinster.

This may lead you to believe that the opposite of spinster would be bachelor, a male who has never married. That is not correct because an unmarried man of any age is not past an age for (the expectation of) siring children. Due to the gender disparity for most of society at the time the word 'spinster' was commonly used, no corresponding noun for a male was used.

The word spinster came into English use in the fourteenth century, meaning a female spinner of thread, using a spinning wheel. By the seventeenth century the term was used in a legal sense to denote an unmarried woman, and by the early eighteenth century was in general use to describe a woman who had never married and was beyond the age where marriage might still be likely.

The origin relates to the reality, in the times during which the term was adopted, that an older woman who is, or has been, married, has her time taken up with family duties, while the woman who has never married continues with a maiden's occupations, such as spinning thread.

Traditionally, spinsters would supply local women with thread and yarn for sewing, netting, and knitting, frequently using fleeces and other materials brought to them by the women for spinning, in return for food and other provisions.

Answer 6

Bachelor is the term used to describe an unmarried man of any age, whether he has remained so out of choice or just by sheer bad luck at not finding a suitable spouse.

Answer 7

Ans =bachelor

Answer 8

Male