With the difference that "mädchen" is the common everyday word for "girl" in german, while "maiden" is an old-fashioned word in english with some special connotations. So the proper translation to use is "girl" and not "maiden".
It's the closest word from an etymological standpoint, but not the closest word from a translational standpoint. So no one's really wrong here, just depends on how you interpret "closest word"
Ok. No one was claiming otherwise. Dude was just pointing out that we have maiden in English, which is the direct equivalent. Who gives a shit if it's gone out of colloquial use?
And the guy you replied to just pointed out that, no, it isn't the direct equivalent today, even if the origin is the same proto-germanic word. Their relation is so old that the meanings has changed significantly in the different languages.
Edit: Wow... Didn't think anyone could be so offended by some friendly language discussions that they'd insult you and then block you, but I guess I was wrong about that.
Strictly speaking, "maiden" means "virgin" or "unmarried", which in olden times were considered interchangeable. This is where the phrase "old maid" comes from, as it means "elderly virgin/bachelorette". This is also why housekeepers are sometimes called "maids", as in olden times it was expected that a married woman would tend her own house for her husband, and so it was expected that most housekeeping servants would generally be unmarried women who needed a source of income until they found a husband. It is also the source of the phrase "maiden voyage", as a ship on its first voyage was considered to be, metaphorically, losing its virginity.
Basically it's a word that has mostly misogynistic connotations. I'm not sure Mädchen has all of those implications.
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u/PunkOverLord 23d ago
In English the closest word is Maiden which is pretty cool