''Bachelorette'' (/ˌbætʃələˈrɛt/) is a term used in

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

for a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, unmarried woman. The term is derived from the word ''

bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and never has been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

'', 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 ''The Dating Game'' is an American television game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it ...

'' TV show and, more recently, ''

The Bachelorette A bachelorette is an unmarried woman. Bachelorette may also refer to: Film, television, and related * ''The Bachelorette'', a reality television dating show part of ''The Bachelor'' franchise with numerous versions: ** ''The Bachelorette'' (Am ...

''. In older English, the female counterpart term to "bachelor" was "

spinster Spinster or old maid is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women usually marry. It can also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry. The term origin ...

". 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, 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, or studio Condominium, condo also known as a studio flat (United Kingdom, UK), self-contained apartment (Nigeria, Ghana), efficiency apartment, bed-sitter (Kenya), or bachelor apartment, is a small apartment, dwelling in ...

Derivation

The more proper

neologism In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...

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 Governme ...

'' suffix is the standard English suffix denoting a female subject, while ''

-ette A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle som ...

'' 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

, 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 reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

d is a divorcée, and a woman whose spouse has died is a

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

. "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 Spinster or old maid is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women usually marry. It can also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry. The term origin ...

". 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 "

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