colleen

¹

[ kol-een, ko-leen ]

noun

1. an Irish girl.

Colleen

²

[ kol-een, ko-leen ]

noun

1. a female given name: from an Irish word meaning “girl.”

colleen

/ kɒˈliːn; ˈkɒliːn /

noun

1. an Irish word for girl
2. an Irish girl

Word History and Origins

Origin of colleen¹

1820–30; < Irish cailín, equivalent to caile girl, wench + -ín diminutive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of colleen¹

C19: from Irish Gaelic cailín a girl, a young unmarried woman

Example Sentences

One Irishman observed bitterly: “The colleens who found jobs in the kitchens of the wealthy were called ‘pot-wallopers,’ ‘biddies,’ and kitchen canaries.

From Literature

“You could tell us a story without any colleens or battles in it.”

From Literature

Wilmington described O’Hara as “Hollywood’s ultimate fiery colleen, she has a classic chiseled Irish beauty and a thinly strapped temper that erupted smashingly into scathing tantrums or round-house rights.”

From Los Angeles Times

And the neighbours all pity the colleen so pretty,

From BBC

The Hitch The inhabitants of a neighboring barren, windswept Irish island want parts in it, including the play’s misshapen title character and a sociopathic colleen named Slippy Helen.

From New York Times

Related Words

• maid
• maiden