hoyden

Etymology

Probably from Middle Dutch heyden (“heathen, gypsy”), heidin (Modern Dutch heiden).

noun

1. (archaic) A rude, uncultured or rowdy girl or woman.
   She is a hoyden, one will say. At any rate she is not a lady, another will exclaim. I have suspected her all through, a third will declare; she has no idea of the dignity of a matron; or of the peculiar propriety which her position demands. 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers: In Three Volumes, London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts, OCLC 911659634; republished [London]: D. Campbell Publishers, 1992 (Everyman's Library; 57), ISBN 978-1-85715-057-5, volume II, page 147
   Not all ladies in my profession are as that shameless hoyden, Mrs Charke, that has brought such distress through her malicious conduct and ill repute upon her worthy father, Mr Cibber; far from it, sir. 1985, John Fowles, A Maggot
   Tabitha is lighting the candles in the sconces. A great, strong, heavy girl, a hoyden, not pretty, her face distinguished only by youth, by health. 1997, Andrew Miller, Ingenious Pain

adj

1. Like a hoyden: high-spirited and boisterous; saucy, tomboyish.
   Many of the country girls I met appeared to me pretty – that is, to have fine complexions, sparkling eyes, and a kind of arch, hoyden playfulness which distinguishes the village coquette. 1796, Mary Wollstonecraft, Letters Written during a Short Residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, letter 22
   At these primitive tea parties the utmost propriety and dignity of deportment prevailed. No flirting nor coquetting – no gambling of old ladies, nor hoyden chattering and romping of young ones […] 1809, Washington Irwing, “chapter 3”, in Knickerbocker's History of New York

verb

1. (intransitive) To behave in a hoydenish manner.