Are 少女 【しょうじょ】, 少女 【おとめ】, 小女 【しょうじょ】 and 乙女 【おとめ】 fully interchangeable?


A [search for 乙女 on jisho.org](http://jisho.org/search/%E4%B9%99%E5%A5%B3)
shows the word [少女](http://jisho.org/word/%E5%B0%91%E5%A5%B3) as a result, and
doesn't give a distinction between the two terms, just listing that the word
少女 has "many forms":

  * 少女 【しょうじょ】
  * 少女 【おとめ】
  * 小女 【しょうじょ】
  * 乙女 【おとめ】

**Are the four forms fully interchangeable, or are there nuances in the
meaning?**




  * 少女【しょうじょ】 is the most common among the four, and is a neutral word meaning _girl_. Although this is common in novels and news articles, [this still is a big word](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/21130/5010) and people don't usually use it in casual conversations.
  * 乙女【おとめ】 is rarer and is commonly translated as _maiden_. You would find this in certain stilted novels, poems, lyrics, and such. It focuses on girls' chastity and innocence.
  * 少女【おとめ】 is a rare reading of 少女 found only in historical contexts.
  * 小女【しょうじょ】 is very rare and I'm not even sure if this is correct.

I think you can safely forget the last two.




  * 少女【しょうじょ】 is the most common among the four, and is a neutral word meaning _girl_. Although this is common in novels and news articles, [this still is a big word](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/21130/5010) and people don't usually use it in casual conversations.
  * 乙女【おとめ】 is rarer and is commonly translated as _maiden_. You would find this in certain stilted novels, poems, lyrics, and such. It focuses on girls' chastity and innocence.
  * 少女【おとめ】 is a rare reading of 少女 found only in historical contexts.
  * 小女【しょうじょ】 is very rare and I'm not even sure if this is correct.

I think you can safely forget the last two.

