handmaid

English

Alternative forms

• handmaiden
• handmayd (obsolete)

Etymology

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

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈhændˌmeɪd/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ændmeɪd
• Homophone: handmade

Noun

handmaid (plural handmaids)

1. (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:

2. A moth of the species Dysauxes ancilla.

Translations

maid that waits at hand

• Armenian: աղախին (hy) (aġaxin)
• Chinese:

  Hokkien: 女婢 (lí-pī), 查某囝 (zh-min-nan) (cha-bó͘-kiáⁿ)

• Dutch: dienstmaagd (nl)
• Finnish: palvelijatar (fi)
• German: Dienerin (de) f, Zofe (de) f
• Irish: bansclábhaí m
• Latin: pedisequa f
• Old English: þēowen f, wīln f
• Portuguese: empregada (pt) f, donzela (pt) f
• Scottish Gaelic: ban-òglach f
• Slovene: služkinja f
• Spanish: azafata (es) f
• Telugu: దాసి (te) f (dāsi)

See also

• wait on someone hand and foot

Anagrams

• Hamdanid