# bridesmaiden
## English
### Etymology

From bride +‎ -s- +‎ maiden.

### Noun

bridesmaiden (plural bridesmaidens)
* An unmarried bridesmaid.
** 1855, Catherine Grace F. Gore, Mammon; or, The hardships of an heiress, volume 2, Hurst and Blackett, page 45:[…] ; and so warmly did he share the partiality of Lady Mary and Lady Jemima for the gentle recluse, whom he persisted in calling “la belle au bois dormant,” that, when informed that though the funeral baked meats of the late Earl were not to furnish forth the marriage-table of his successor, the bombazine of the two noble spinsters was, in a decent time, to give place to bridesmaiden white, he was unable to resist a mild “hurrah!”
** 1875, Belgravia, volume 27, page 501:And when a little bridesmaiden, uncommonly like you, / Comes into church so trippingly, all dress’d in white and blue, / You’ll discover, as you reach the middle aisle, / Why they linger’d, linger’d, linger’d at the stile.
** 1880, Agnes Smith Lewis, The Brides of Ardmore: A Story of Irish Life, page 258:“But it will be a deception,” urged Mòr. “I shall have to appear as chief bridesmaiden, whilst I am a married woman.”
** 1885, Edwin Arnold, The Secret of Death: From the Sanskrit with Some Collected Poems, page 58:The Night wore all her starry gems of pride, / To be bridesmaiden to that peerless bride;
** 1889, Susan Coolidge, Just Sixteen; republished Germany: Outlook Verlag, 2018, →ISBN, page 147:There were errands to be done, he said, but as these “errands” always took him over to the little island of Urk, where lived a certain pretty Olla Tronk, who was Jacqueline’s great friend and her chosen bridesmaiden, the sisters naturally teased him a good deal about them.
** 1896, The Primitive Methodist Magazine, volume 77, page 329:That night, therefore, I told my cousin of my plans, and she greatly astonished and dismayed me by saying that she, too, would go with me and be bridesmaiden.
** 1896, The Strand Magazine, volume 11, page 44:And now, after all, here I had been married with ne’er a bridesmaiden at all!
** 1915, Emilie Benson Knipe, Alden Knipe, Peg O' the Ring: A Maid of Denewood, Century Company, page 23:Then turning to Mrs. Mummer, “And you smiling at her. Think you I want a bridesmaiden with a red nose?”
** 1915, The Mount Holyoke, volume 24, page 344:I s’pose when we’re married you’ll have to, because I promised you you could be bridesmaiden.
** 1927, St. Nicholas Magazine, volume 54, page 1025:None other than Sally shall be my chief bridesmaiden, and none other than your dear self shall deck me for my wedding.
** 1992 February 19, Marcus Gustavsson, “Re: systemet (was a whole bunch a things)”, in soc.culture.nordic (Usenet), message-ID <9288@chalmers.se>:Young people of Sweden confess that they like moral, they follow the norm, they concentrate on education that pays and they want to marry in church with wedding gown, dress-coat and bridesmaidens.
** 1996 May 29, Kelley Teahen, “wedding party spouses ‹ where to seat”, in alt.wedding (Usenet), message-ID <31ACAAD7.75BD@lfpress.com>:The bridesmaiden is 12 years old, and has yet to decide if she would rather sit with the bridal party or with her parents (we gave her that choice, and she's letting us know soon).
** 1996 July 19, kellie whitehurst, “Re: Bridesmaids dilemma”, in soc.couples.wedding (Usenet), message-ID <4sp76g$8lm@qualcomm.com>:Just tell your aunt & cousin that a bridesmaid should be between the ages of x and y - so the cousin could either be a flower girl, junior bridesmaid or bridesmaiden (as Megan/NutmegGA would say!).
** 1998 September 3, Dyrath, “Re: Sharing songs”, in alt.fan.dragons (Usenet), message-ID <3232.550T522T11922346@mail.telepac.pt>:And when the bridesmaidens had dressed her for bed / I stepped in amongst them and kissed the bride / And wished that I could have been laid by her side / And by that means I'd got me the favour.
** 2017 January 3, Jacey Bedford, Silverwolf, DAW Books, →ISBN:I wore my best cream dress and traveled in the coach accompanied by Lily, my bridesmaiden, and my soon-to-be new mama and papa.

#### Related terms

* bridesmaid
* bridesman
* bridesmatron