bachelor girl
- noun
- /ˈbætʃələr ɡɜrl/
- Archaic
:
soltera
- As a bachelor girl, she enjoys her independence and the freedom to make her own choices.
Examples
-
Living alone, the bachelor girl often hosts dinner parties for her friends.
-
The bachelor girl decorated her apartment to reflect her unique style and personality.
-
I'm a bachelor girl.
Synonyms
126
8.8
A young woman who is not married
112
9.9
An unmarried girl or young woman often mentioned in old stories
96
1.8
A person who is not married or in a romantic relationship
41
4.8
A girl or young woman
32
9.6
A young woman often shown as delicate and needing help in old stories
9
5.4
A young woman who is not married and lives alone
9
1.0
A woman who is not married
1
9.9
A young unmarried woman in old stories
How Independent
Surface Forms
Morphology
bachelor + girl
The elements 'bachelor' (an unmarried person, typically male) and 'girl' (female) combine to yield the meaning 'an unmarried woman', so a learner who knows the constituents can infer the core idea. However, the gendered source of 'bachelor' and the specific nuance in the definition (living alone/independent) are not fully predictable from the parts, and the collocation is somewhat marked, so full comprehension may require exposure.
Etymology
Bachelor girl may come from the word bachelor, which used to mean an unmarried man, and in the early 1900s some women in cities began to use bachelor with girl to show they lived alone and supported themselves. That's why the phrase means 'a young unmarried woman who lives alone, especially independently of her family'.