donzel arch.
(ˈdɒnzəl)
Also 6–7 donsel.
[ad. It. donzello ‘a damosell, a batchelor; also a page, a squire, a waiter, a serving man’ (Florio) = Pr. donzel, Sp. doncel, OF. donzel, doncel, dancel young man:—late L. dom(i)nicell-us, dim. of dominus lord, master: cf. damoiseau.]
A young gentleman not yet knighted, a squire, a page.
| 1592 Nashe P. Penilesse (ed. 2) 7 b, The high and mightie Prince of Darknesse, Donsell del Lucifer. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. iv. iv, Donzel, methinks you look melancholic. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. iii. 572 Much may be done, my noble Donzel. a 1680 ― Charact., Squire of Dames, He is Esquire to a Knight-Errant, donzel to the damsels. 1843 Lytton Last Bar. i. ii, Cling to me, gentle donzel, and fear not. |