spinster [LME] A spinster was originally a woman who spun, something that many unmarried women used to do at home to earn their living. The word was often added after the name of a woman to describe her occupation, and in time became the official description of an unmarried woman. The word could also once refer to another kind of spinner, a spider, and spider itself is descended from Old English spithra, from spinnan ‘to spin’. See also cobweb.