''Bachelorette'' (/ˌbætʃələˈrɛt/) is a term used in
American English
American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and in most circumstances ...
for a
single, unmarried woman. The term is derived from the word ''
bachelor'', and is often used by journalists, editors of popular magazines, and some individuals. "Bachelorette" was famously the term used to refer to female contestants on the old ''
The Dating Game'' TV show and, more recently, ''
The Bachelorette''.
In older English, the female counterpart term to "bachelor" was "
spinster". However, this has acquired negative connotations and, when used now, tends to imply that the unmarried woman is too old to find a husband and have children. A bachelorette may have previously been in a relationship.
In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, the term ''bachelorette'' also refers to a small bachelor apartment (an apartment with only one large room serving as a bedroom and living room plus a separate bathroom—i.e. a
studio apartment
A studio apartment, also known as a studio flat ( UK), a self-contained apartment (Nigeria), efficiency apartment, bed-sitter (Kenya) or bachelor apartment, is a small apartment (rarely a condo) in which the normal functions of a number of ro ...
).
Derivation
The more proper
neologism
A neologism Ancient_Greek.html"_;"title="_from_Ancient_Greek">Greek_νέο-_''néo''(="new")_and_λόγος_/''lógos''_meaning_"speech,_utterance"is_a_relatively_recent_or_isolated_term,_word,_or_phrase_that_may_be_in_the_process_of_entering_com ...
would be ''bacheloress'', since the ''
-ess
The suffix ''-ess'' (plural ''-esses'') appended to English words makes a female form of the word.
ESS or ess may refer to:
Education
* Ernestown Secondary School, in Odessa, Ontario
* European Standard School, in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Governmen ...
'' suffix is the standard English suffix denoting a female subject, while ''
-ette'' is a French-origin diminutive suffix, mainly used to denote something is smaller in size. However, in American English the ''-ess'' suffix is only marginally
morphologically productive, and the ''-ette'' suffix can indicate a feminine version of a noun without a change in size (though many such words in ''-ette'' were intended to be jocular when they were first coined). The ''-ess'' suffix is also slowly falling into disuse in the English language due to attempts to neutralize professional terms; it is therefore less commonly applied to new terms nowadays.
Reasons for use
An archaic English term for a woman who has never married is a
spinster, while a woman who is
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving th ...
d is a divorcée, and a woman whose spouse has died is a
widow. "Spinster" often implied that the woman was older than the age when most women traditionally marry and that she would probably never marry; a more derogatory term was "
old maid".
Typically, a young person (male or female) who has never been married is said to be "single" or "never married".
The term "bachelorette" may indicate a woman who is unmarried by choice, the counterpart to the term "
bachelor".
Word origin and history
1935, American English, from bachelor with French ending -ette. Replaced earlier bachelor- girl (1895) . Middle French had bachelette "young girl; "Modern French bachelière is found only in the "student" sense.
References
External links
{{authority control
Marriage
Women by role