Standard Lemma guide

puelline

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Received-Pronunciation: /p(j)uːˈɛliːn/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /-aɪn/
  • General-American: /p(j)uˈɛlˌin/
  • General-American: /-aɪn/

1

adj

Meaning 1

Synonym of puellile (“characteristic of, or pertaining to, a girl or girls”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: girlish, girllike, girly, puellile

Antonyms: ungirlish, ungirly

History

Etymology

From Latin puella (“female child, girl”) + English -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Puella is derived from puellus (“male child, young boy”) + -a (feminine form of -us); puellus is a contraction of puerulus (“little boy; little slave”), from puer (“boy, lad; male page, servant, or slave; child”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh2w- (“few, little; smallness”)) + -ulus (“suffix forming diminutives of nouns indicating small size or youth”).