meid

See also: méid

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans meid, from Dutch meid. Doublet of maid.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /meɪt/

Noun

meid (plural meide)

1. (South Africa, offensive) A young black woman. [from 20th c.]
   • 1979, André Brink, A Dry White Season, Vintage 1998, p. 113:

     The last time she heard Capt Stolz saying: ‘Come on, meid, speak up. Or do you want to die like Gordon Ngubene?’

Anagrams

• Demi, Diem, Dime, demi, demi-, dime, idem

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Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch meit, variant of meget, from Old Dutch *megith, *magath, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs. Compare also maagd.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛi̯t/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: meid
• Rhymes: -ɛi̯t

Noun

meid f (plural meiden, diminutive meisje n or meiske n or meidje n)

1. girl, lass

   De meiden hadden afgelopen zaterdag een zwemwedstrijd.

   The girls had a swimming match last Saturday.

   Goed gedaan, meid! ― Well done, girl!

2. maid

   Synonyms: bode, deerne, dienstbode, dienstmaagd

3. Commonly used as an address for female pets, especially female dogs.

   Brave meid! ― Good girl!

Usage notes

• Use in the singular may connote fortitude, bravery or acting like a grown-up, but it may also connote vulgarity or subservience due to the meaning “maid”. These connotations are much weaker in the plural, which can be used neutrally with little regard for context.
• Use for adult women (and to a lesser degree for older adolescent girls) is often considered patronising, which is especially true of the diminutives.
• The diminutive meidje is uncommon; the regular diminutive is meisje along with its variants meiske and meisie.

Derived terms

• meis

Anagrams

• idem

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Veps

Pronoun

meid

1. partitive of mö