Girl

Girl

Forms¹

ME: gyrle, garl, geerl, gyrle…
ModE: girl

Etymology²

Origin unknown
Several theories:
Unrecorded OE form *gyrela (the diminutive suffix -el) from Proto-Germanic *gurwilon
ME word shows the reflex of the attested OE word gyrela (dress, apparel)
A borrowing from another West Germanic language: Middle Low German: Gör (small child) 16c

Phonological development³

The unpalatalized initial consonant (ME) forms could perhaps be explained as the result of the influence of a northern form.
Others suggest an Anglian form with retraction of æ to a before r plus another consonant in a labial environment> i-mutation to æ
The ME forms suggest that the word is the reflex of an Old English word with y, or at the least of a word whose stem vowel was identified in early ME with the various reflexes (spelt u, i,and e ) of OE y.

Original meaning⁴

Child of either sex; a young person. Now Irish English (1300)

Other meanings⁵

• A young or relatively young woman (1375)
• A woman of any age (often derogatory)
• A female child. The counterpart of boy. (1375)
• A sweetheart, a girlfriend; a wife. (colloquial) (1513)
• A prostitute. Recorded earliest in girl of the game, †girl of ease. (1662)
• A female servant or domestic employee (1688)
• A black female servant or domestic employee. (derogatory and offensive) (1835)
• US slang for cocaine
  

References

1. “girl.” The Oxford English Dictionary. www.oed.com 25 Nov. 2014 < http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.is.cuni.cz/view/Entry/78475?rskey=oEvGY6&result=1#eid >.
2. “girl.” The Oxford English Dictionary. www.oed.com 25 Nov. 2014 < http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.is.cuni.cz/view/Entry/78475?rskey=oEvGY6&result=1#eid >.
3. “girl.” The Oxford English Dictionary. www.oed.com 25 Nov. 2014 < http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.is.cuni.cz/view/Entry/78475?rskey=oEvGY6&result=1#eid >.
4. “girl.” The Oxford English Dictionary. www.oed.com 25 Nov. 2014 < http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.is.cuni.cz/view/Entry/78475?rskey=oEvGY6&result=1#eid >.
5. “girl.” The Oxford English Dictionary. www.oed.com 25 Nov. 2014 < http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.is.cuni.cz/view/Entry/78475?rskey=oEvGY6&result=1#eid >.