A word from historical newspaper personal ads, explained with real examples from the archive.
An unmarried woman, usually a young one, as in maid or widow.
| Type | Historical language |
|---|---|
| Category | Period vocabulary |
| Earliest example in the archive | May 22, 1910, Rocky Mountain News (Denver) |
| Most common | 1850s to the 1910s |
Maid meant a girl or woman who had never married, a sense Merriam-Webster now labels old-fashioned and literary. In personal ads it was paired with widow, as in maid or widow. In May 1910, a Denver businessman of 35 asked in the Rocky Mountain News to meet a “refined maid or widow with means.”
Sources: Merriam-Webster, maid.
BUSINESS MAN 35, WORTH $35,000, lonely, in Denver for short time, would meet refined maid or widow with means, matrimonially inclined; references exchanged. J-101,…
Single, never married.
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How this fits into 170 years of personal ad shorthand: From Object Matrimony to LTR: How Personal Ads Learned to Talk in Code.
All dictionary entries · The Personals Archive · How to write a personal ad
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