Word
colleen
US/ˌkɑˈɫin/
UK/kəlˈiːn/
Definition
n. a word for a girl or a young woman, especially one who is not married.
n. a girl or young unmarried woman. The term is a phonetic anglicisation of the Irish word 'cailín'.
Examples
“The old song tells the story of a young Irish colleen.”
“During the festival, several local performers dressed as traditional colleens to welcome the visitors.”
“The poet often used the term colleen to evoke a sense of nostalgic Irish identity in his verses about the countryside.”
Examples
simple
“The old song tells the story of a young Irish colleen.”
contextual
“During the festival, several local performers dressed as traditional colleens to welcome the visitors.”
complex
“The poet often used the term colleen to evoke a sense of nostalgic Irish identity in his verses about the countryside.”
Usage
Commonly used in Irish English or in literature set in Ireland; it is rarely used in everyday speech outside of Ireland.
Teaching tip
This word is often perceived as a 'stage-Irish' term or a romanticised stereotype when used by non-Irish speakers. Learners should be aware it sounds quite old-fashioned or specifically regional.
Etymology
From the word colleen, from Irish cailín (“girl”), not used as a name in Ireland. Colleen can also be interpreted as a variant of Coleen, which was a product of marketing by the Hollywood film industry (to promote a new starlet in the 1920s).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/colleen