Log in or Sign up
malkin love

malkin

Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A kitchen servant, or any common woman; a slattern.
  • noun Maid Marian, the lady of the morris-dance.
  • noun A stuffed figure; a caricature of a woman in dress and general appearance; a scarecrow.
  • noun A cat. Compare grimalkin. :
  • noun A hare.
  • noun A mop; especially, a mop used to clean a baker's oven.
  • noun In gunnery, a jointed staff with a sponge at one end, used for cleaning out cannon.
  • noun The little grebe or dabchick.
  • Of or pertaining to a malkin or kitchen-wench.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Originally, a kitchenmaid; a slattern.
  • noun A mop made of clouts, used by the kitchen servant.
  • noun Prov. Eng. A scarecrow.
  • noun (Mil.) A mop or sponge attached to a jointed staff for swabbing out a cannon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun archaic a lower-class or uncultured woman; a kitchenmaid; a slattern
  • noun archaic a cat
  • noun archaic a mop, especially one used to clean a baker's oven.
  • noun archaic, military A mop or sponge attached to a jointed staff for swabbing out a cannon.
  • noun archaic A scarecrow.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Diminutive of Malde, an early form of Maude or Matilda. Compare grimalkin.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word malkin.

Examples

Log in or sign up to add your own related words.

synonyms (2)

Words with the same meaning

  1. scarecrow
  2. slattern

same context (16)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. Giuliani
  2. NYC
  3. Rollin
  4. belaying
  5. cotter
  6. hank
  7. ifit
  8. ppt
  9. q
  10. quean
  11. quick-release
  12. screenshot
  13. slattern
  14. thole
  15. trollop
  16. winamp

cross-references (1)

Cross-references

  1. mother of the mawkins

rhymes (1)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. calkin

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • chained_bear commented on the word malkin

    See also merkin.

    1. A typical name (usu. derogatory) for: a lower-class, untidy, or sluttish woman, esp. a servant or country girl. In Scotland: an awkward or ungainly young girl. Also in various proverbial expressions, esp. there are more maids than Malkin (obs.).

    2. The female genitals.

    3. An impotent or effeminate man; a weakling.

    4. A mop; a bundle of rags fastened to the end of a stick, esp. for cleaning out a baker's oven. regional in later use.

    5. Nautical. A sponge attached to a jointed pole, used for cleaning out ships' guns. Obsolete.

    6. A scarecrow; a ragged puppet or grotesque effigy; a guy.

    7. As a designation for certain animals (sometimes as if a proper name). A cat, e.g. "Grimalkin." Obsolete.

    8. Sc. and Eng. regional (north.). A hare.

    Wow, how many different things can one weird word mean?

    February 16, 2007

  • reesetee commented on the word malkin

    "And speaking o' cats, gray malkins hunt through the forest as well." Cecilia Dart-Thornton; The Battle of Evernight; Aspect; 2003.

    I hope this doesn't refer to definition 2. Talk about weird....

    February 16, 2007

  • arby commented on the word malkin

    It's a variant spelling of greymalkin.

    AmHer sez: grimalkin

    1. A cat, especially an old female cat. 2. An old woman considered to be ill-tempered.

    ETYMOLOGY: Variant of graymalkin : gray + obsolete malkin, lower-class woman; see merkin.

    May 18, 2007

  • chained_bear commented on the word malkin

    Also spelled maulkin.

    September 5, 2008

  • dailyword commented on the word malkin

    There was a character in the first Harry Potter book who ran a robe shop in Diagon Alley that was named this.

    July 11, 2012