noun

colleen

kah-LEEN/kɑːˈliːn/

An Irish girl or young woman.

The colleen performs an Irish stepdance in an embroidered dance dress.

A young Irish woman performing Irish stepdance, with recognizable dance posture and an embroidered Irish dance dress providing concrete cultural context.

Etymology

The Irish base means girl or woman, and the diminutive makes it little girl. That expression supplies the meaning of a girl or young woman in Irish usage.

More examples

A colleen from Cork joins our walking tour.
The novel follows three colleens as they settle in Dublin.
He falls in love with a colleen from Galway.

Forms

colleen · colleens

Similar words

girl: Does not specify Irish identity and usually suggests youth.
woman: Includes adults of any nationality, not just young Irish women.