colleen

See also: Colleen

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Irish cailín.

Noun

colleen (plural colleens)

  1. (Ireland) A girl.
    Coordinate term: bouchaleen
  2. (Ireland) A young single woman.
    • 1906 June–November, Max Pemberton, “The Diamond Ship. […]”, in Cassell’s Magazine, Illustrated, London; Paris; New York, N.Y.; Melbourne, Vic.: Cassell and Company, Limited, →OCLC, page 101, columns 1–2:
      So here was Timothy McShanus deserting the baked meats, to say nothing of his convenient corner in the buffet, to go out and stare at a red shepherdess with picture books and maizypop to sell. And what kind of a colleen was it that he saw? […] Young as she was—and I supposed her to be about eighteen—her figure would have given her five years more according to our northern ideas; […]
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