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# spinster

noun (a spinster, spinsters)

«spinster» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A spinster is a woman who has never married, usually an older one (old-fashioned). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spinster/#m1)
2. (old use) A spinster was once a woman whose job was spinning thread. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spinster/#m2)
3. In old legal papers spinster was the word for an unmarried woman (law, old). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spinster/#m3)

### In the lessons

You meet «spinster» in old novels, fairy tales and legal records. Today it can sound unkind, because it was used to mock women who did not marry; people now just say «a single woman» or «unmarried». The male word «bachelor» is still used more freely. Phrases: an old spinster (unkind), spinster aunt.

### Examples

- In the old story, the spinster lived alone with her cats. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spinster/#x1)
- Great-aunt Molly was a spinster all her life and loved travelling. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spinster/#x2)
- The marriage record called her «spinster» because she had not been married before. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spinster/#x3)
- Long ago spinsters spun wool into thread. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spinster/#x4)
- Calling someone «an old spinster» is rude. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spinster/#x5)
- The book is about two spinster sisters who run a shop. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spinster/#x6)
- “Oh dear, oh dear,” cried Wendy, “I’m sure I sometimes think that spinsters are to be envied.” [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spinster/#x7)

### Note

Countable noun. Old-fashioned and sometimes rude; prefer «single woman». The male partner word is «bachelor», but the two words do not carry the same feeling. It comes from «spin» (spinning thread).

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «spinster» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spinster/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«spinster» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/spinster.html) on Mova free.