February 21 - This day in history

The translation of Pucelle as Maid isn't actually bad. "Maid" originally was a medieval English word meaning a young woman who was a virgin, and was a variation of the word "maiden". Those of you who know the Robin Hood stories will remember Maid Marian. I think it was in the second half of the 18th century that it began to be used in its more modern meaning of a junior female member of the staff of a household (or, later, a hotel etc too), reflecting the extent to which the more junior servants were young unmarried females - and only in the 19th century, with the increasing number of wealthy middle-class households, that this meaning started to predominate. You will find countless references to maid meaning young female virgin in English literature. In her own time Joan of Arc was often known - party at her own wish - as La Pucelle d'Orleans, and "Maid of Orleans" was a good English translation.