As Rosie says, a spinster is just an unmarried woman, but it has acquired unofficial overtones of left-on-the-shelfness. If you have banns read in church before your marriage, the woman is always described as "spinster of this (or another) parish".

It's all part of the gender bias inherent in the English language. Get a thesaurus and look up 'manly' and 'womanly'.

Hmmph. It works both ways... Being left on the shelf means you sometimes get mixed up with the rejects and the returns, which sometimes ain't so bad. This weekend is an interesting one, for complicated (and unexpected) reasons. I just hope I've got enough lipstick to last me until tomorrow. BTW (and to start another subject) I bought a petrol-engined lawn mower on the web last night. It's going to be delivered to my office on a day when I'm out at meetings all day. Am I completely nuts? (On second thoughts, don't answer that)

[Tuj] Womanly means to exude femininity or lady-like qualities, whereas Manly is a suburb of Sydney, Australia. ;)

I don't believe I've heard the term "spinster" used in America for...well...ever.