as in housekeeper
a female domestic servant
a large estate that once had many maidservants
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Recent Examples of maidservant
This helps explain why the maidservant was subjected to multiple inspections, with a succession of witnesses rooting around beneath Hall’s skirts and petticoats for firm proof.
—
Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024
In 1627, a professional lace-maker named Thomasine Hall boarded a ship in England and arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, to become a maidservant in the household of a man named John Tyos.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024
If the apparent maidservant was actually a man committing fornication that might lead to another servant’s falling pregnant, then Hall was a materially destabilizing influence in the community.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.
—Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 25 Aug. 2023
Alfonso enlists the sisters’ maidservant, Despina, to aid in the plot.
—Jeremy Yudkin, BostonGlobe.com, 17 July 2023
On the other hand, in the 17th century a maidservant was able to thwart the unwelcome advances of the diarist Samuel Pepys by grabbing a pin from her pocket and threatening to stab him with it, according to his own account.
—Amanda Foreman, WSJ, 29 Sep. 2022
Priya, a maidservant working first for and then alongside Malini, comes into her own as a free woman and worker of ancient power.
—Liz Braswell, WSJ, 29 Sep. 2022
His mother, Jeanne Rabin, a French maidservant, died about six months after his birth.
—Jenny Uglow, The New York Review of Books, 3 Aug. 2022
Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024
In 1627, a professional lace-maker named Thomasine Hall boarded a ship in England and arrived at Jamestown, Virginia, to become a maidservant in the household of a man named John Tyos.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024
If the apparent maidservant was actually a man committing fornication that might lead to another servant’s falling pregnant, then Hall was a materially destabilizing influence in the community.
—Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates.
—Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 25 Aug. 2023
Alfonso enlists the sisters’ maidservant, Despina, to aid in the plot.
—Jeremy Yudkin, BostonGlobe.com, 17 July 2023
On the other hand, in the 17th century a maidservant was able to thwart the unwelcome advances of the diarist Samuel Pepys by grabbing a pin from her pocket and threatening to stab him with it, according to his own account.
—Amanda Foreman, WSJ, 29 Sep. 2022
Priya, a maidservant working first for and then alongside Malini, comes into her own as a free woman and worker of ancient power.
—Liz Braswell, WSJ, 29 Sep. 2022
His mother, Jeanne Rabin, a French maidservant, died about six months after his birth.
—Jenny Uglow, The New York Review of Books, 3 Aug. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Maidservant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/maidservant. Accessed 26 Apr. 2025.
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