“Girl” Used to be Genderless

The word “girl”, in English, was not initially used to refer to a specific gender.  It used to mean “child” or “young person” regardless of the gender.  The word originated circa 1300, from “gyrle”, meaning “child”, or “young person” of either gender, but more frequently females.  The origin is said to be Low German, but that is uncertain.  It is speculated that it came from unrecorded Old English “gyrele”, from Proto-Germanic “gurwilon-“, a diminutive of “gurwjoz”, which apparently also represented Low German “gære”, Norwegian dialectal “gorre”, Swedish dialectal “gurre”, all meaning some variation of “small child”. 

“Girl” does not go back to any Old English or Old Germanic form.  It is part of a large group of Germanic words whose root begins with a “g” or “k” and ends in “r”.  The final consonant in “girl” is a diminutive suffix.  The “g-r” words denote young animals, children, and all kinds of creatures considered immature, of low value, or past their prime. 

It is only from the late 14^th century where it acquires the specific meaning of “female child”.  From the mid-15^th century, it was applied to any young unmarried woman.  From the 1640s, it was used as a term of endearment, meaning “sweetheart”.  As recorded from 1826, “old girl” was used in reference to a woman of any age.