By the 14th century, a woman whose occupation was spinning thread to be woven into cloth was called a "spinster." Over time, the term came to denote(を意味する)unmarried women of any occupation - many of whom engaged in spinning as a respectable way to earn income - and began being used in official legal documents to refer to a woman who had never married. Despite its negative connotations, its use persisted into the 21st century. In the United Kingdom, for instance, until the introduction of the Civil Partnership Act of 2004, any woman never previously married was categorized as a "spinster" on her marriage license, regardless of her age at the time the license was issued (with a never-married man being listed thereon as a "bachelor").