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girl

(gûrl)

1. A female child.

2. A daughter: our youngest girl.

3. Often Offensive A woman.

4. Informal

a. A woman socializing with a group of women: a night out with the girls.

b. Used as a familiar form of address to express support of or camaraderie with a woman.

5. Informal A female sweetheart: cadets escorting their girls to the ball.

6. Offensive A female servant or employee.

[Middle English girle, child, girl, of unknown origin.]

girlhood′ n.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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