Re: About the word "spinster"

"Heidi Graw":
The on-line etymology dictionary claims the following:

1362, "female spinner of thread," from M.E. spinnen (see spin) + -stere,
feminine suffix. Spinning commonly done by unmarried women, hence the word
came to denote "an unmarried woman" in legal documents from 1600s to early
1900s, and by 1719 was being used generically for "woman still unmarried
and
beyond the usual age for it."

Does this mean the masculine suffix in M.E. was "-ster?" For
example...she that spinstere, he that spinster, if both man and woman were
engaged in the act of spinning wool or thread?

Eh? You use yourself "spinner" elsewhere. But English indeed kinda lost the
female feeling of -ster, see roadster, gangster.

I know in German both male and female when single are refered to as
"ledig."

Which in Dutch means empty, contracted leeg. Which in German is leer. Which
in Dutch is a contraction for ladder or leder (leather). Talking of false
friends:-)

Talking of "empty persons", here's another nice false friend,
etymology-wise:
E. widow, L. vidua, seemingly related to F. vide, empty.
The actual relationship would be E. wide, L. dividere (~separated), while F.
vide<vuide would derive from vocitus/vacuum (E. void).

That word doesn't refer to spinning. In the German language "eine
Spinnerin" would be that female spinner and "ein Spinner" would be that
male
spinner. The word "Spinner" in German is also used in reference to
someone
who tells lies...spins tales.

German and Dutch derived spider "spin(ne)" from spinning. Spinneweb= cobweb.

In English, the word "spinster" is used to refer to an unmarried woman,
but it also carries with it a derogatory meaning in the modern sense...a
spinster being that old maid who no-one wants anything to do
with...usually
meaning those miserable old aunties who never married.

I would not mind, as you seem to do, having both meanings/connotations of
the word going on. That's tradition, as the English like it!

guido
http://home.scarlet.be/~pin12499/taalzaak.htm


.

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