handmaid
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- handmaiden
- handmayd (obsolete)
Etymology edit
Inherited from Middle English handemayde, hand-maide, handmaide, handmayd, hand mayde, hand-mayde, haundmaid, hondemayde, hondmaide, hond-mayde. By surface analysis, compound of hand + maid, the first component in the sense of "ready at hand".
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
handmaid (plural handmaids)
- (now historical) A maid that waits at hand; a female servant or attendant.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 2:18:
- And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
- A moth of the species Dysauxes ancilla.
Translations edit
maid that waits at hand
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