servingwoman

Household help, feminine

A servingwoman is a female domestic servant, one who waits on others in a household.

The term is archaic or deliberately old-fashioned, appearing mainly in historical fiction or period dramas: The servingwoman brought wine to the guests.

The male equivalent is servingman.

domestic

maid

Household cleaning worker

housemaidLive-in cleaning employee
chambermaidHotel room attendant
housekeeperDomestic cleaning professional

parlormaid · scullery maid · cook · laundress · charwoman · kitchen maid · lady's maid · handmaiden · nursemaid · governess

historical

Tudor

Sixteenth-century English ruling family

ElizabethanOf late 1500s England
medievalOf the Middle Ages
VictorianOf a prim era

Shakespearean · lady-in-waiting · scullery · wench · downstairs · upstairs · manor · household · livery · apron

hierarchy

obedience

Compliance with authority

deferenceYielding to another's judgment
subordinationLower position in hierarchy
servilityExcessive willingness to please

humility · dutifulness · meekness · compliance · subservience · lowly · station · rank · curtsy · orders

labor

cleaning

Removing dirt and mess

cookingPreparing food with heat
washingCleaning with liquid
scrubbingCleaning by rubbing hard

mending · tending · fetching · carrying · polishing · dusting · ironing · sewing · childcare · housework

Opposites

social hierarchy/domestic role

servingwomanmistress

Illicit female lover

lady of the house · noblewoman · lady · queen · duchess

gender within servant class

servingwomanservingman

Male household attendant

manservant · footman · butler · valet · groom

Family

woman, serve, service, serving, servant, served, server, serves, servitude

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Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G