mid-14c., "female spinner of thread," from Middle English spinnen (see spin) + -stere, feminine suffix (see -ster). Unmarried women were supposed to occupy themselves with spinning, hence the word came to be "the legal designation in England of all unmarried women from a viscount's daughter downward" [Century Dictionary] in documents from 1600s to early 1900s, and by 1719 the word was being used generically for "woman still unmarried and beyond the usual age for it."
Spinster, a terme, or an addition in our Common Law, onely added in Obligations, Euidences, and Writings, vnto maids vnmarried. [John Minsheu, "Ductor in Linguas," 1617]
Strictly in reference to those who spin, spinster also was used of both sexes (compare webster, baxter, brewster) and so a double-feminine form emerged, spinstress "a female spinner" (1640s), which by 1716 also was being used for "maiden lady." Related: Spinsterhood.
双语例句
1. He left his Montana ranch to his spinster sister.
他把他在蒙大拿州的大牧场留给了他未婚的妹妹.
来自《简明英汉词典》
2. There's nothing shameful in being a spinster.
当老处女也没什么丢人的,看看皮蒂姑妈.
来自飘（部分）
3. It'sounds like some old spinster with a pleated skirt and frilly blouse.
它听起来就像一个穿着镶褶边的衬衫和百褶裙的老处女.
来自互联网
4. A spinster is a bachelor's wife.
怨妇乃旷夫之妻.
来自互联网
5. However, some of college's crisis are originated her menopause chaos -- she is an old spinster.
