maid

See also: Maid

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English mayde, maide, abbreviation of maiden. Ultimately from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *magaþs (“maid, virgin”). Cognate with Dutch meid and Magd.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meɪd/
• Rhymes: -eɪd
• Homophone: made

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

maid (plural maids)

1. (dated or poetic) A girl or an unmarried young woman; maiden.
2. A female servant or cleaner (short for maidservant).
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp‎^[1]:

     She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, […]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.

3. (archaic) A virgin, now female but originally one of either gender.
   • 1380+, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales

     Crist was a mayde and shapen as a man.

   • 1601, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night

     You are betrothed both to a maid and man.

Usage notes

Maid, in the sense of a girl or unmarried woman, is often used in the common (species) names of flowering plants.

Synonyms

• (young female person): damsel, maiden
• (female servant): handmaiden, lady-in-waiting, maidservant
• (female cleaner): chambermaid (in a hotel), charlady (in a house), charwoman (in a house)

Derived terms

• bondmaid
• bridesmaid
• chambermaid
• cookmaid
• French maid
• handmaid
• housemaid
• kitchenmaid
• lady's maid
• laundrymaid
• maid café
• maid child
• maidhood
• maidkin
• maidless
• maidlike
• maidly
• maidmarian
• maid-of-all-work
• maid of honour
• maidservant
• maid's hair
• mermaid
• meter maid
• milkmaid
• nursemaid
• Old Maid
• old maid
• old-maidish
• old-maidism
• parlourmaid
• schoolmaid
• scullery maid
• seamaid
• shopmaid

 

Translations

young female

• Arabic: فَتَاة f (fatāh)
• Armenian: օրիորդ (hy) (ōriord)
• Breton: merc'h (br) f, plac'h (br) f
• Catalan: donzella (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 少女 (zh) (shàonǚ), 處女／处女 (zh), 处女 (zh) (chǔnǚ)

• Cornish: maghteth
• Dutch: meisje (nl) n, meid (nl) f
• Finnish: neito (fi)
• French: demoiselle (fr) f, jeune fille (fr) f
• Galician: rapaza f, rapariga f, garela f, moza f, trondia f, garda f
• German: Mädchen (de) n
• Greek:

  Ancient: παιδίσκη f (paidískē)

• Hebrew: עלמה f (almah)
• Hindi: लड़की (hi) f (laṛkī)
• Ido: damzelo (io)
• Interlingua: senioretta
• Irish: cailín (ga) m, ainnir f, maighdean f
• Italian: signorina (it) f
• Japanese: 少女 (ja) (しょうじょ, shōjo)
• Korean: 소녀 (ko) (sonyeo) (少女 (ko))
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: puella (la) f
• Polish: panna (pl) f
• Portuguese: donzela (pt) f, moça (pt) f
• Romanian: fecioară (ro) f, fată (ro) f
• Russian: деви́ца (ru) f (devíca), де́ва (ru) f (déva), де́вушка (ru) f (dévuška)
• Scots: deem
• Scottish Gaelic: ainnir f, maighdeann (gd) f, rìbhinn (gd) f, òigh f, gruagach (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: дева f, дјева f, девојка f, дјевојка f, мома f

  Roman: deva (sh) f, djeva (sh) f, devojka (sh) f, djevojka (sh) f, moma (sh)

• Spanish: doncella (es) f, señorita (es) f
• Swahili: wafanyikazi (sw)
• Swedish: mö (sv) c, jungfru (sv) c
• Telugu: కన్య (te) (kanya)
• Thai: สาว (th) (sǎao)
• Urdu: لڑکی f (laṛkī)
• Vietnamese: con gái (vi), thiếu nữ (vi) (少女)
• Welsh: merch (cy) f, geneth (cy) f, rhiain f, morwyn (cy) f
• Yiddish: מויד f (moyd), מיידל n (meydl)

female servant or cleaner

• Arabic: خَادِمَة f (ḵādima)
• Armenian: աղախին (hy) (aġaxin)
• Catalan: criada (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 女僕／女仆 (zh) (nǚpú), 女仆 (zh) (nǚpú), 女傭／女佣 (zh) (nǚyōng), 女佣 (zh) (nǚyòng), 傭婦／佣妇 (zh) (yōngfù), 佣妇 (zh) (yōngfù), 侍女 (zh) (shìnǚ)

• Cimbrian: diinaren f
• Cornish: maghteth f
• Czech: pokojská (cs) f
• Danish: stuepige c
• Dutch: kamermeisje (nl) n
• Esperanto: ĉambristino
• Finnish: palvelustyttö (fi), piika (fi), palvelijatar
• French: bonne (fr) f, bonne à tout faire (fr) f, domestique (fr) f, servante (fr)
• German: Stubenmädchen (de) n
• Greek: καμαριέρα (el) f (kamariéra)

  Ancient: παιδίσκη f (paidískē)

• Hebrew: חַדְרָנִית f (ḥadranít)
• Hindi: नौकरानी (hi) f (naukrānī)
• Hungarian: szobalány (hu)
• Indonesian: pembantu (id), babu (id)
• Interlingua: serviente
• Irish: cailín (ga) m
• Italian: cameriera (it) f
• Japanese: 女中 (じょちゅう, jochū), メイド (meido)
• Kabuverdianu: enpregada
• Korean: 하녀 (ko) (hanyeo) (下女 (ko))
• Latin: ancilla f
• Maori: hāwini
• Marathi: बाई f (bāī), कामवाली बाई f (kāmvālī bāī)
• Northern Sami: biiga
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian: stuepike f
• Portuguese: empregada (pt) f, servente (pt) f, doméstica (pt)
• Romanian: servitoare (ro) f, fată în casă (ro) f
• Russian: го́рничная (ru) f (górničnaja), служа́нка (ru) f (služánka)
• Scots: deem
• Scottish Gaelic: ban-òglach f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: слушкиња f, собарица f, служавка f

  Roman: sluškinja (sh) f, sobarica (sh) f, služavka (sh) f

• Spanish: (inoffensive terms) criada (es) f, doméstica (es) f, empleada doméstica (es) f, muchacha de servicio f, sirvienta f, asesora del hogar (es) f (Chile, formal usage), asistenta (es) f (Spain), mucama f (Argentina, Uruguay), nana (es) f (Chile), señora de servicio f (Venezuela), (offensive terms) cachifa (es) f (Venezuela), chacha (es) f (Mexico, Spain), cholera f (El Salvador, Guatemala), chopa (es) f (Dominican Republic), fregona (es) f (Spain), gata (es) f (Mexico), muca f (Guatemala), nacha f (Honduras)
• Swahili: mfanyikazi (sw)
• Swedish: husjungfru c
• Telugu: పనిపిల్ల (panipilla)
• Thai: สาวใช้ (sǎao-chái)
• Tok Pisin: haus meri
• Urdu: نوکرانی f (naukrānī)
• Vietnamese: đầy tớ gái, hầu gái
• Yiddish: מויד f (moyd), דינסטמויד f (dinstmoyd)

Anagrams

• Dima, aim'd, amid, diam, diam.

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Cebuano

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] English maid, (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English mayde, maide, abbreviation of maiden. Ultimately from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Germanic *magaþs (“maid, virgin”).

Noun

maid

1. A female servant or cleaner; a maidservant, a housemaid.

Synonyms

• (maid): katabang, muchacha, mutsatsa

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Ludian

Etymology

Akin to Finnish maito.

Noun

maid

1. milk

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Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈmajt/

Etymology 1

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adverb

maid

1. also, too

Further reading

• Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎^[2], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronoun

maid

1. accusative/genitive plural of mii

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Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maðʲ/

Verb

·maid

1. third-person singular present indicative conjunct of maidid

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Veps

Etymology

Related to Finnish maito.

Noun

maid

1. milk

Derived terms

• hapanmaid
• pihtimaid
• rahtmaid
• maidnedal'

References

• Zajceva, N. G., Mullonen, M. I. (2007) “молоко”, in Uz’ venä-vepsläine vajehnik / Novyj russko-vepsskij slovarʹ [New Russian–Veps Dictionary]‎^[3], Petrozavodsk: Periodika