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According to Sol Steinmetz, lexicographer and dictionary editor,(author of Semantic Antics), speaking on the BBC Radio 4 programme, Word of Mouth, 15.4.08, the original meaning of the word girl, was a young child of either sex.
The word boy, was obviously a male child, but females were referred to as wench or maid. It was only later that girl began to mean the opposite of boy, ie a female child.
So maybe, we all did have girlhoods after all. A nice thought.
Angharad.
Comments
OED agrees
Yes, my soft copy of Concise OED agrees: "ORIGIN: Middle English (denoting a child or young person of either sex): perh. rel. to Low German gör 'child'".
I didn't know that...
The Online OED also gives another meaning, viz. to thrill or tingle.
I did read recently that pink was a masculine colour until the twenties and thirties - female infants were dressed in yellows.
Etymology
My Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, a fairly standard American dictionary, shows the etymology as: [ME gurle, girle young person of either sex] (14c)
So, our language inherited the word from Middle English and then changed the meaning of it. I'm fascinated by these three barely-related languages, Old English, Middle English, and English. English of course, is in constant flux, so while it's considered one language from at least Elizabethan times to present, it certainly has changed, hasn't it?
Changes
Well, words do tend to be a bit dynamic in their meanings, and usages change from generation to generation. I decided to take a peak at my usual dictionary, a decent quality Merriam-Webster, circa 1978, and see what it said.
No mention of the older usage, but just below 'girl' was 'girl friend'. The first definition given is "a female friend", as you might expect. The second one, however, betrays it's Seventies POV. To wit: "a frequent or regular female companion of a boy or man".
Lesbian? What's that? ;-)
Karen J.
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"
Janis Joplin
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Ye Gurledom
It is a nice thought for us; but too bad it was
no consolation to the transgendered lads of the time:
"Oh, T'waf I yet borned a Maid moft faire ande nott a ftupid Gyrle..."
~~~(I know that's probably not middle-English but you get the idea...) /// LAIKA
"Government will only recognize 2 genders, male + female,
as assigned at birth-" (In his own words:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1lugbpMKDU