EuroLex/E/Girl
< EuroLex
- Original language: English
- Original form and meaning: +1.) 'a young and easy female', +1a.) 'a female working in a cabaret'
"This term is well-known, but little used outside compunds (see call~, play~), relating to 'girls' only in a facetious or deprecatory way. The marginal uses make it difficult to predict whether the word will become established more widely." (DEA*, p. 133)
(Note: If the status is not specifically indicated then the word is stylistically neutral and generally used; if earlier meaning and status equals current use the former may be expressed by writing "dito". Cf. also the project guidelines.)
| Language | Form | Date of Borrowing (and Obsolescence) | Current Meaning and Status | Earlier Meanings and Statusses | Source |
| Catalan | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Croatian | gerla | beg20c | meaning +1a; status: fully accepted but still marked as English | DEA* | |
| Czech | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Danish | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Dutch | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| English | girl | of uncertain origin, the M.E. variants gurle, girle, gerle suggest an original ü, perhaps related to Low German Göre 'boy, girl' | 'female child' (16c), 'a young unmarried woman, lass, maid', (informal) 'sweetheart, girlfriend', (informal) 'a woman of any age', (informal) 'daughter', 'a female employee, esp. a female servant', (South African derogatory) 'a Black female servant of any age', the girls (informal) 'a group of women, esp. acquaintances' | 'youth or maiden' (13c) | Collins English Dictionary (4th ed.), CODEE** |
| Estonian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Finnish | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| French | girl [gœRl] | beg20c | meaning +1a; status: restricted use | DEA* | |
| Frisian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| German | Girl [görl] | beg20c | meaning +1 (status: restricted to colloquial use) and meaning +1a (status: restricted to technical use) | DEA* | |
| Hungarian | görl [gərl] | end19/beg20c | meaning +1a; status: fully accepted but still marked as English, obsolescent | DEA* | |
| Irish | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Italian | girl [gœrl/gεrl] | 1910s | meaning +1; status: fully accepted but still marked as English | DEA* | |
| Latvian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Lithuanian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Maltese | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Norwegian | girl [= Engl. pron.] | 20c | meaning +1; status: restricted use | DEA* | |
| Polish | girlsa [gerlsa] | beg20c | meaning +1a; status: fully accepted but still marked as English | DEA* | |
| Portuguese | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Rumantsch | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Slovak | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Slovenian | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
| Spanish | girl [gel] | 1920s | meaning +1; status: restricted to technical use | DEA* | |
| Swedish | ... | ... | '...' | '...' | ... |
- Annotations: *DEA = Dictionary of European Anglicisms by Manfred Görlach (2001), Oxford: OUP.; **CODEE = The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology by T.F. Hoad (1986), Oxford: Clarendon.
Information on Other Languages[edit | edit source]
- Romanian: girl, meaning +1; status: known mainly to bilinguals, restricted to colloquial, euphemistic, facetious use and journalese.
- Russian: gerla/gërl; mid20c; meanings +1 and +1a; status: restricted to colloquial and facetious use.
- Bulgarian: gŭrla; beg20c; meanings +1 and +1a; status: not (or no longer) recognized as English, pejorative.,