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Glite Dictionary
👧 A young woman 🐠 A small fish 🦩 A small crane
demoiselle

demoiselle

9.8
A small graceful bird or a slender insect with bright wings
  • noun
  • /ˌdɛmɪˈzɛl/
translation icon : damsel
  • These were the demoiselle cranes that I first saw many years ago on the winter range in the Sudan.

Examples

  • "The demoiselle," Livre said.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Though I am now a gentleman of advanced age, nearing my 70th year, I am still quite able to favor the savories, and it remains a treat to survey the lovely demoiselles as they exhibit the latest fashions on the boulevards, enticing smitten young men and breaking their hearts at the same time.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • At a signal from the parents, the demoiselle chick pressed itself flat in the thin barley.

  • A pair of demoiselles fluttered and danced on the riverbank, strengthening the pair bond.

Synonyms

damselfly
vsdemoiselle
1 8.1

A small, slender insect like a dragonfly that rests with its wings folded together and does not sting

also names a graceful crane found in Europe and Asia, not only the insect

Surface Forms

demoiselle singular
demoiselles plural

Etymology

Demoiselle comes from French demoiselle, a small form of dame meaning 'lady', the same root as English damsel and damselfly. People named the graceful crane and the slender damselfly after a 'little lady' because of their elegant, delicate shape, which explains the modern use.