puellae

Puellae is the plural nominative of the Latin noun puella, meaning "girls" or "young women." Puella is a first-declension feminine noun used for female children or young women, and it is the standard term for "girl" in classical Latin.

In the plural, the standard forms are: nominative puellae; genitive puellarum; dative puellis; accusative puellas; ablative puellis; and vocative puellae. The form puellae commonly functions as both the nominative plural and the vocative plural; the genitive plural is puellarum.

Puellae appears frequently in Latin texts to describe groups of girls or young women, and it can refer to daughters, female servants, or young women in general, depending on context. It appears in poetry and prose alike, often with adjectives or other modifiers to convey social status, age, or appearance. Example sentences include phrases such as Puellae dormiunt (The girls sleep) or Puellae Romanae (Roman girls).

Related terms include the singular puella and the masculine noun puer (plural pueri). Puellae serves as a core example of the first-declension feminine paradigm in Latin grammar and is widely encountered in Latin-language learning materials. See also Puella for the singular form and Puellarum for the genitive plural.