puella
[puˈɛl.la]feminine
The English word "girl" is translated into Latin as puella.
puella refers to a young female person.
Meaning: young female person (noun)
Which one should you use?
The masculine counterpart to the feminine puella is puer, which means boy.
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun puella is feminine. Its singular genitive form, meaning "of the girl", is puellae. When the word is the direct object of a sentence (accusative case), the singular form is puellam and the plural form is puellas.
Did you know?
- The word puella is a diminutive formed from puer , 'child' or 'boy', so its first sense was close to 'little one'.
- The Latin root in puella is a distant relative of the English word 'puerile', which describes someone who is childish or silly.
- The word puella is a common feature in many 'elegiac' poems, where it is often used by poets to describe a beloved or even a teasing mistress.
Examples in context
- Esne puer an puella?Are you a girl or a boy?This sentence is useful for asking a question about gender using puella.Tatoeba #5056980 by alexmarcelo, translation #4167881 by Wuzzy
- Puella cum avo legit.The girl is reading with her grandfather.This sentence shows puella as the subject of a sentence.Tatoeba #1217703 by alexmarcelo, translation #462730 by lukaszpp
- Puella in schola est.The girl is in school.Tatoeba #2905702 by Martka, translation #6611085 by CarpeLanam
- Puella longos capillos et oculos caeruleos habet.The girl has long hair and blue eyes.
- 142 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Quintus and Claudia are looking at a drawing.
- QuintusQuid est in pictura?What is in the picture?
- ClaudiaPuella in pictura est.A girl is in the picture.
- QuintusEstne puella amica tua?Is the girl your friend?
- ClaudiaIta, puella est amica mea.Yes, the girl is my friend.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “girl” translations and entries puella, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries puella, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
