1650s, "demigoddess," from Latin heroine, heroina (plural heroinae) "a female hero, a demigoddess" (such as Medea), from Greek hērōine, fem. of hērōs (see hero (n.1)). Meaning "heroic woman, woman distinguished by exalted courage or noble achievements" is from 1660s. Sense of "principal female character in a drama, poem, etc." is from 1715.
fem. proper name, from Welsh bran "raven" + (g)wen "fair" (literally "visible," from nasalized form of PIE root *weid- "to see"). Daughter of Llyr, she was a legendary heroine of Wales.
"one who finds cause for gladness in the most difficult situations," 1921, a reference to Pollyanna Whittier, child heroine of U.S. novelist Eleanor Hodgman Porter's "Pollyanna" (1913) and "Pollyanna Grows Up" (1915), who was noted for keeping her chin up and finding cause for happiness during disasters.
1550s, a shortened form of goodwife, a term of civility applied to a married woman in humble life; hence Goody Two-shoes, name of the heroine in 1760s children's story ("The History of little Goody Two Shoes; otherwise called Mrs. Margery Two Shoes") who exulted upon acquiring a second shoe.
type of hat, 1897, from name of Trilby O'Ferrall, eponymous heroine of the novel by George du Maurier (1834-1896), published in 1894. In the stage version of the novel, the character wore this type of soft felt hat. In plural, also slang for "feet" (1895), in reference to the eroticism attached in the novel to the heroine's bare feet. Related: Trilbies.
"buttocks," 1920, American English, from earlier British meaning "vulva" (1879), perhaps from the name of John Cleland's heroine in the scandalous novel "Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" (1748). The fem. proper name is a diminutive of Frances. The genital sense is still the primary one outside U.S., but is not current in American English, a difference which can have consequences when U.S. TV programs and movies air in Britain.
late 14c., "man-like or heroic woman, woman of extraordinary stature, strength and courage," from Latin virago "female warrior, heroine, amazon," from vir "man" (from PIE root *wi-ro- "man"). Ælfric (c. 1000), following Vulgate, used it in Genesis ii.23 as the name Adam gave to Eve (KJV = woman):
Beo hire nama Uirago, þæt is, fæmne, forðan ðe heo is of hire were genumen.
Related: Viraginous.
also cliffhanger, "suspenseful situation," 1950, a transferred use from an earlier meaning "movie serial" (1937), from cliff + hang (v.). In some U.S. continued-next-week silent cinema serials in the "Perils of Pauline" days, the episode often ended with the heroine "hanging over a cliff from a fraying rope through which the villain was sawing with a dull knife, to be saved by Crane Wilbur or Milton Sills" [Collier's magazine, July 6, 1946].
late 14c., rescoue, "act of saving from danger, confinement, enemies, etc., from rescue (v.). The earlier noun or form of the noun in Middle English was rescous (early 14c.), from Old French rescous, verbal noun to rescourre, rescorre.
As an adjective by 1888 (William Booth) "aiming to raise fallen or degraded persons," originally and especially prostitutes but also the intemperate; hence rescue mission, for those in need of spiritual or moral rehabilitation. A rescue opera (by 1935, probably translating a continental phrase) was one in which the hero or heroine is rescued after great tribulations.
famously pungent type of cheese, 1870, short for Limburger cheese (1817), from Limburg, province in northeast Belgium, where the cheese is made. The place name is from Germanic *lindo "lime tree" (see linden) + *burg "fortification."
Some frauds a few years ago started a Limburger cheese factory down in Keyport, New Jersey, but the imposition was soon exposed. A man could come within 300 yards of the spurious article without being knocked down, and as the smell never had any effect on the town clock the business was soon discontinued. [John E. Boyd, "The Berkeley Heroine and Others Stories," 1899]
