the French equivalent of “Miss,” referring to an unmarried female. Etymologically it means “my (young) lady” (ma demoiselle).

As an honorific title in the French royal court, it came to be used (without the adjunction of a proper name) to refer to or address the daughter of the king's eldest living brother, who was himself called monsieur. The first to be called mademoiselle was Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orléans, duchesse de Montpensier, popularly called La Grande Mademoiselle (Montpensier, Anne-Marie-Louise d'Orléans, Duchess de), who was the daughter of Gaston, duc d'Orléans (brother of Louis XIII). A later mademoiselle was Marie-Louise d'Orléans, daughter of Philippe I, duc d'Orleans (brother of Louis XIV), who became queen of Spain as the wife of Charles II.