Dictionary

housekeeper en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhaʊskipɚ/ (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /ˈhaʊskiːpə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From house + keeper.

Meanings

1. Someone (traditionally a woman) employed to look after the home, typically by managing domestic servants or superintending household management; also someone with equivalent duties in a hotel, institution etc.
   • The housekeeper, a very decorative brunette of thirty-five with a pseudo-English accent, greeted him with a mixture of grateful effusion and condescending patronage. 1946, William Hatfield, Buffalo Jim, Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege, page 70:
   • When management of the toney Copley Plaza Hotel ordered housekeepers recently to put down their mops and hand wash the floors, a furor arose among the hotel cleaning staff. Local union representatives and others concerned with issues affecting women workers also rallied in anger to protest the directive, which in essence forced housekeepers to scrub on their hands and knees. 1987 December 13, Elizabeth Pincus, “Copping To The Mop Scandal”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 22, page 1:
   • She was their third housekeeper, but after a month or so she also gave up.
2. Someone who manages the running of a home, traditionally the female head of the household.
3. (archaic, colloquial) Someone who keeps to their house; someone who rarely ventures away from home; an unadventurous person, a homebody.
   • I do assure you he is no house-keeper. I have seen him in desperate conflict with savage men, and even with His Majesty's redcoats. 1915, John Buchan, Salute to Adventurers:
4. (archaic) Someone who owns a house as a place of residence; a householder.
   • He was often heard to express his fears of coming upon the parish; and to bless God, that, on account of his having been so long a housekeeper, he was intitled to that provision. 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

Forms

Coordinates

housemaid

Deriveds

housekeeperless · housekeeperess · housekeeperly

Translations (60)

gl ama (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · fr ménagère (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · tr idareci (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · bg домакиня (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · es ama de gobierno (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · es ama de gobierno (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · cs hospodyně (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · ru эконо́мка (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · eo mastrumistino (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · ro femeie în casă (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · it governante (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · de Haushälterin (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · fi emäntä (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · ga bean tí (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · el νοικοκυρά (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · ru домоправи́тельница (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · es gobernanta (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · mk дома́ќинка (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · ga tíosach (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · ro menajeră (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · pl gosposia (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · cmn 管家 (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · ca casera (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · ca casera (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · it casalinga (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · es gobernanta (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · fi emäntä (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · pt governanta (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · ru эконо́мка (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · fr gouvernante (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · vi bà quản gia (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · hu házvezetőnő (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · io domo-guvernisto (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · bg домоупра́вителка (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · es ama de llaves (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · cmn 房屋管理人 (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · de Hausfrau (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · tr ev hanımı (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · de Haushälterin (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · bg иконо́мка (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · pt dona de casa (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · fi taloudenhoitaja (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · grc οἰκουρός (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · ru домрабо́тница (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · cmn 女管家 (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · nl huishoudster (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · pl pomoc domowa (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · io menajisto (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · ko 가정부 (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · mk еконо́мка (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · ar مُدَبَّرَة الْمَنْزَل (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · es ama de llaves (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · ro casnică (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · el οικονόμος (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · ja 家政婦 (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · de Haushälter (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · fi emännöitsijä (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · ja ハウスキーパー (someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household) · el οικονόμος (someone employed to manage or look after a home) · fa خانهدار (someone employed to manage or look after a home)