different between maid vs housekeeper

English

Etymology

From Middle English mayde, maide, abbreviation of maiden. Ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *magaþ, from Proto-Germanic *magaþs (“maid, virgin”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /me?d/
• Rhymes: -e?d
• Homophone: made

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).
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): ancilla, handmaiden, lady-in-waiting, maiden, maidservant, servingmaid, servingwoman, womanservant
• (female cleaner): chambermaid (in a hotel), charlady (in a house), charwoman (in a house), cleaning lady (in a house)

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Dima, Madi, aim'd, amid, diam, diam.

Cebuano

Etymology

From English maid, Middle English mayde, maide, abbreviation of maiden. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *magaþs (“maid, virgin”).

Noun

maid

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

Synonyms

• (maid): katabang, muchacha, mutsatsa

Estonian

Etymology 1

Noun

maid

1. partitive plural of maa

Etymology 2

Noun

maid

1. partitive singular of mai
2. nominative plural of mai

Ludian

Etymology

Akin to Finnish maito.

Noun

maid

1. milk

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /?majt/

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 main entry.

Pronoun

maid

1. accusative/genitive plural of mii

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mað?/

Verb

·maid

1. third-person singular present indicative conjunct of maidid

Veps

Etymology

Related to Finnish maito.

Noun

maid

1. milk

Inflection

Derived terms

• hapanmaid
• pihtimaid
• rahtmaid
• maidnedal'

References

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

English

Etymology

From house +? keeper.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?ha?skip?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?ha?ski?p?/
• 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, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle, I.1:

     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