girl

English

/ɡɜːl/, /ɡɝl/, /ɡɵːl/

noun
Definitions
  • A female child, adolescent, or a young woman.
  • A young female animal.
  • (sometimes) A woman, especially a young woman
  • A female servant; a maid. see usage notes
  • (uncommon) A queen (the playing card.)
  • (colloquial) A term of endearment. see usage notes
  • One's girlfriend.
  • One's daughter.
  • (UK) A roebuck two years old.
  • (US) Cocaine, especially in powder form.
  • (somewhat) A female (tree, gene, etc).
  • (derogatory) A boy or man who is weak or sentimental.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English gerle inherited from Old English gyrle inherited from Proto-Germanic *gurwilaz, *gurwijaz derived from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰer- (yearn, enclose, bowels, yearn for, scratch, short, bristle, bowel, catch, wish, shine, guts, scrape, feel inclination, glow, intestine, string).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*ǵʰer-

Gloss

yearn, enclose, bowels, yearn for, scratch, short, bristle, bowel, catch, wish, shine, guts, scrape, feel inclination, glow, intestine, string

Concept
Semantic Field

The body

Ontological Category

Action/Process

Kanji

短

Emoji

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms