demoiselle
noun
Forms demoiselles
- noun A damselfly of the family Calopterygidae.
- noun A young lady; a damsel; a lady's maid.
- noun The Numidian crane (Grus virgo).
Synonyms
demoiselle crane broad-winged damselfly damsel damoiselle damosel damozel damselfish
Etymology
Borrowed from French demoiselle. The bird is so called on account of the grace and symmetry of its form and movements. Doublet of damsel, doncella, and donzella.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A young lady; a damsel; a lady's maid.
- noun The Numidian crane (Antropoides virgo); --so called on account of the grace and symmetry of its form and movements.
Etymology [F. See Damsel.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “demoiselle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details