housekeeper

See also: house keeper

English

Etymology

From house +‎ keeper.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhaʊskipɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhaʊskiːpə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: house‧keep‧er

Noun

housekeeper (plural housekeepers)

1. (now rare) Someone who owns a house as a place of residence; a householder. [from 15th c.]
   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter 1, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume I, London: Harrison and Co., […], published 1781, →OCLC:

     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.

2. 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. [from 16th c.]

   She was their third housekeeper, but after a month or so she also gave up.

3. Someone who manages the running of a home, traditionally the female head of the household. [from 17th c.]
4. (colloquial, now rare) Someone who keeps to their house; someone who rarely ventures away from home; an unadventurous person, a homebody. [from 18th c.]
   • 1915, John Buchan, Salute to Adventurers:

     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.

Coordinate terms

• housemaid

Translations

someone employed to manage or look after a home

• Bulgarian: икономка f (ikonomka)
• Catalan: casera (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 房屋管理人 (fángwū guǎnlǐrén) (any gender)

• Finnish: emäntä (fi), emännöitsijä (fi), taloudenhoitaja (fi)
• French: gouvernante (fr)
• Galician: ama (gl) f
• German: Haushälterin (de)
• Greek: οικονόμος (el) f (oikonómos)
• Hungarian: házvezetőnő (hu)
• Ido: domo-guvernisto (io)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} bean tí f
• Italian: governante (it)
• Macedonian: еконо́мка f (ekonómka)
• Polish: pomoc domowa (pl) f, gosposia f
• Portuguese: governanta (pt) f
• Russian: эконо́мка (ru) f (ekonómka), домоправи́тельница (ru) f (domopravítelʹnica)
• Spanish: ama de llaves
• Turkish: idareci (tr)

someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household

• Arabic: مُدَبَّرَة الْمَنْزَل‎ f (mudabbara(t) al-manzal)
• Bulgarian: домакиня (bg) f (domakinja)
• Catalan: casera (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 女管家 (zh) (nǚguǎnjiā), 管家 (zh) (guǎnjiā) (any gender)

• Czech: hospodyně (cs) f
• Dutch: huishoudster (nl) f
• Finnish: emäntä (fi)
• French: ménagère (fr)
• German: (as wife) Hausfrau (de) f, (hired) Haushälterin (de) f, (hired) Haushälter m
• Greek: οικονόμος (el) f (oikonómos), νοικοκυρά (el) f (noikokyrá)

  Ancient: οἰκουρός f (oikourós)

• Ido: menajisto (io)
• Irish: bean tí f, tíosach m
• Italian: casalinga (it)
• Japanese: 家政婦 (ja) (かせいふ, kaseifu), ハウスキーパー (hausukīpā)
• Korean: 가정부(家政婦) (ko) (gajeongbu)
• Macedonian: дома́ќинка f (domáḱinka)
• Portuguese: dona de casa (pt)
• Romanian: menajeră (ro) f, femeie în casă f, casnică (ro) f
• Russian: домрабо́тница (ru) f (domrabótnica), эконо́мка (ru) f (ekonómka)
• Spanish: ama de casa
• Turkish: ev hanımı (tr)
• Vietnamese: bà quản gia