maid
pronunciation
How to pronounce maid in British English:
UK [meɪd]
How to pronounce maid in American English:
US [meɪd]
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- Noun:
- a female domestic
- an unmarried girl (especially a virgin)
Word Origin
- maid (n.)
- late 12c., "a virgin, a young unmarried woman," shortening of maiden (n.). Like that word, used in Middle English of unmarried men as well as women (as in maiden-man, c. 1200, used of both sexes, reflecting also the generic use of man). Domestic help sense is from c. 1300. In reference to Joan of Arc, attested from 1540s (French la Pucelle). Maid Marian, one of Robin Hood's companions, first recorded 1520s, perhaps from French, where Robin et Marian have been stock names for country lovers since 13c. Maid of Honor (1580s) originally was "unmarried lady of noble birth who attends a queen or princess;" meaning "principal bridesmaid" is attested from 1895. Maydelond (translating Latin terra feminarum) was "the land of the Amazons."
Synonym
Antonym
Example
- 1. You want a maid to clean for you ?
- 2. Her little maid , who was scaling the fish , looked at her mistress anxiously .
- 3. Scarlett : as if I couldn 't get a better beau than that old maid in britches .
- 4. While in other parts of the world there is no end to the movement and clamour of the revelry of free life , we , like the beggar maid , stand outside and longingly look on .
- 5. Ms. gates arranged to have a maid clean her son 's house , and made sure he had clean shirts for his big meetings .