A spinster (or old maid)'s a woman or girl of marriageable age who's been unwilling or unable to marry and has no children. Socially, the term's usually applied only to women who're regarded as beyond the customary age for marriage, and's sometimes considered an insulting term, more degrading than the term "bachelor" for males. While men can continue to have children into their 70s or 80s, women generally become less and less able to bear children as they get older. So the term "old maid"'s onl… (More on Spinster)