SPINSTER:  First recorded in 1362, meaning a woman (or, rarely, a man) who spins, esp. one who practises spinning as a regular occupation. The word comes from Anglo-Saxon & Old English Vocabulary. The word now has different denotations; a woman still unmarried; esp. one beyond the usual age for marriage, an old maid. The spelling hasn't changed, but the spelling and words used in the different time periods is different. It has negative connotations, as it suggests that there must be something wrong with the woman for her not to be married.


BACHELOR: First recorded in 1297 meaning a young knight, not old enough, or having too few vassals, to display his own banner, and who therefore followed the banner of another; a novice in arms. [On this sense was founded the conjectural etymology of bas chevalier.] We can see that the language and sentence structure is different, because of the fact that the word originated in old England. The meaning now is still the same, but we would phrase it differently. Here, it is simply put 'an unmarried man'. There isn't much detail as to why or how he is unmarried, which suggests that it is just a decision of his. It has positive connotations, as if he is a 'jack-the-lad'.