ETYMOLOGY, THE ROOT MEANING OF WORDS “damsel” - early 13c., damisele, "young, unmarried woman," especially a maiden of gentle birth, also "maid in waiting, handmaiden," from Anglo-French damaisele "woman of noble birth"
ETYMOLOGY, THE ROOT MEANING OF WORDS “virgin” - c. 1200, "unmarried or chaste woman, from Latin virginem "maiden, unwedded girl or woman," "fresh, unused," marriageable girl," figurative sense of "pure, untainted”