Dictionary

maidservant en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈmeɪdˌsɝ.vənt/ (General-American)
• /ˈmeɪdˌsɜː.vənt/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English maide servant; equivalent to maid + servant.

Meanings

1. A female servant; a maid.
   • Sixe dayes thou ſhalt labour, and doe all thy worke. / But the ſeuenth day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou ſhalt not doe any worke, thou, nor thy ſonne, nor thy daughter, nor thy man ſeruant, nor thy maid ſeruant, nor thine oxe, nor thine aſſe, nor any of thy cattel, nor thy ſtranger that is within thy gates, that thy man ſeruant and thy maid ſeruant may reſt as well as thou. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 5:13–14, column 2:
   • But a man who holds so tightly to what he calls his rights over what he calls his debts will hold tightly also to what he calls his rights over her whom he calls his wife. No sir smile neighbour shall covet his ox or his wife or his manservant or his maidservant or his jackass. / —Or his jennyass, Buck Mulligan antiphoned. 1922 February 2, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC:
   • "A great people were they. They conquered till none were left to conquer, and then they dwelt at ease within their rocky mountain walls, with their man servants and their maid servants, their minstrels, their sculptors, and their concubines, and traded and quarrelled, and ate and hunted and slept and made merry till their time came." 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

Forms

Coordinates

servingman · manservant

Relateds

manservant

Synonyms

servingmaid · servitrix · servantess · servingwoman · womanservant · servitress

Translations (54)

de Perle (female servant, maid) · de Minna (female servant, maid) · sga banóclach (female servant, maid) · de Mensch (female servant, maid) · la ancula (female servant, maid) · izh gornicnoi (female servant, maid) · de Thusnelda (female servant, maid) · txb mañiya (female servant, maid) · fi piika (female servant, maid) · bn দাসী (female servant, maid) · izh piika (female servant, maid) · la famula (female servant, maid) · bo གཡོག་མོ (female servant, maid) · hu szolgálólány (female servant, maid) · ko 하녀 (female servant, maid) · hi दासी (female servant, maid) · fa کنیز (female servant, maid) · grc θεράπαινα (female servant, maid) · hy աղախին (female servant, maid) · scn criata (female servant, maid) · fy faam (female servant, maid) · pl służka (female servant, maid) · fr servante (female servant, maid) · de Dienstmädchen (female servant, maid) · de Zugehfrau (female servant, maid) · es moza (female servant, maid) · de Filine (female servant, maid) · ru служа́нка (female servant, maid) · hy աղջիկ (female servant, maid) · cmn 女僕 /女仆 (female servant, maid) · ru прислу́га (female servant, maid) · bn চাকরানী (female servant, maid) · es criada (female servant, maid) · ga banseirbhíseach (female servant, maid) · de Mamsell (female servant, maid) · pt criada (female servant, maid) · de Besen (female servant, maid) · xcl նաժիշտ (female servant, maid) · de Magd (female servant, maid) · de Hausmädchen (female servant, maid) · hu cselédlány (female servant, maid) · sv husa (female servant, maid) · cmn 女傭 /女佣 (female servant, maid) · mga cailín (female servant, maid) · cmn 侍女 (female servant, maid) · pt serviçal (female servant, maid) · hi नौकरानी (female servant, maid) · syc ܡܫܡܫܢܝܬܐ (female servant, maid) · xcl աղախին (female servant, maid) · pl służąca (female servant, maid) · ja 仕え女 (female servant, maid) · fi palvelustyttö (female servant, maid) · fi palvelijatar (female servant, maid) · gd ban-òglach (female servant, maid)