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Where does the word "colleen" come from? It comes from Irish cailín, and was adopted directly into English (1820s).
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Where does the word "colleen" come from? It comes from Irish cailín, and was adopted directly into English (1820s).
Colleen’s story begins in Irish: cailín meant “girl.” Diminutive of caile 'girl, countrywoman'; cailín is still the everyday Irish word for 'girl'. It reached English by 1820s as colleen. Dion Boucicault's hit 1860 play The Colleen Bawn ('the fair-haired girl'), based on Gerald Griffin's 1829 novel The Collegians, spread it. Today, colleen means an Irish girl or young woman.
- Stage 1 · Irish · medieval cailín "girl", diminutive of caile 'girl, countrywoman'; cailín is still the everyday Irish word for 'girl'.
- Stage 2 · English · 1820s colleen "Irish girl", Dion Boucicault's hit 1860 play The Colleen Bawn ('the fair-haired girl'), based on Gerald Griffin's 1829 novel The Collegians, spread it.