1524 The woman I never was

Nathan Bierma sends out a newsletter about language. The latest issue has an interesting item about the word "spinster." I got married so young I just completely missed that stage of womanhood.

"Endings: The word "spinster" will be retired by the British Government this December, after centuries of use as the official term for a woman who has never been married. The male counterpart, "bachelor," also will be shelved. The Registrar General currently uses these terms on marriage certificates to describe the previous status of newlyweds. But now that homosexual couples can enter into what the Government calls "civil partnerships," the Registrar General wanted terminology that could apply to gay couples. From now on, an unmarried Brit, regardless of sexual orientation, will officially be called a "single."

"Spinster" was first recorded in the 14th Century as the name for the occupation of spinning wool -- a job usually done by a woman. Eventually both the job and the name became so associated with unmarried women that the British Government adopted it in the 17th Century as the official title of an unmarried woman, according to the OED.

The word has never lost its connotations of social inadequacy that came, in centuries past, with being an unmarried woman beyond marrying age. "I can't feel the word is much of a loss," wrote British etymologist Michael Quinion in his World Wide Words newsletter (www.worldwidewords.org), adding it has been "a very long time since an unmarried woman referred to herself by this title in seriousness." " The article also appeared in the Chicago Tribune.