- published: 24 Sep 2013
- views: 131147
A girl is any female human from birth through childhood and adolescence to attainment of adulthood when she becomes a woman. The term may also be used to mean a young woman.
The English word girl first appeared during the Middle Ages between 1250 and 1300 CE and came from the Anglo-Saxon words gerle (also spelled girle or gurle). The Anglo-Saxon word gerela meaning dress or clothing item also seems to have been used as a metonym in some sense.
Girl has meant any young unmarried woman since about 1530. Its first noted meaning for sweetheart is 1648. The earliest known appearance of girl-friend is in 1892 and girl next door, meant as a teenaged female or young woman with a kind of wholesome appeal, dates only to 1961.
The word girl is sometimes used to refer to an adult female. This usage may be considered derogatory or disrespectful in professional or other formal contexts, just as the term boy can be considered disparaging when applied to an adult man. Hence, this usage is often deprecative. It can also be used deprecatively when used to discriminate against children ("you're just a girl").
Once upon a time there was a little girl
Once she was mine
In my heart the only one
I wonder where you are
I know you're somewhere in me
I can see your smile when I close my eyes
Oh, little girl
Where did you go, little girl
I miss you so
I remember when she was mine
Once upon a time there was a little voice
Singing loud and clear
In my heart the only one
Once upon a times there was so many dreams
Once they were mine
Where did you go, little girl
I miss you so