Today the Oxford American English Dictionary the term “spinster” is defined as, “an unmarried women, typically an older woman beyond the usual are for marriage.” However, when the term "spinster" originated in the mid-1300s, it simply referred to “a woman who spun thread and yarn” (Merriam-Webster). One possible way “spinster” became associated with the “crazy old maid” may have come from the German work “spinnen” (Curzan 170). Spinnen, which means both to spin thread and spider, but when used as a verb it means “be crazy (daft, nuts)” (Spinnen: Langenscheidt). According to Anne Curzan, this could be have led to the term being used as an insult for older women, by referring to them as “spinsters” (170). Working Thesis: The term “spinster”
