Handmaid

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Handmaid \Hand"maid`\ (h[a^]nd"m[=a]d`), Handmaiden
  \Hand"maid`en\ (h[a^]nd"m[=a]d`'n), n.
     A maid that waits at hand; a female servant or attendant.
     [WordNet sense 2]
     [1913 Webster]
  


     2. Something or someone serving in a subordinate position;
        as, theology should be the handmaiden of ethics. [WordNet
        sense 1]
  
     Syn: handmaid, servant.
          [WordNet 1.5]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  handmaid
       n 1: in a subordinate position; "theology should be the
            handmaiden of ethics"; "the state cannot be a servant of
            the church" [syn: {handmaiden}, {servant}]
       2: a personal maid or female attendant [syn: {handmaiden}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  67 Moby Thesaurus words for "handmaid":
     Charlie McCarthy, abigail, agent, amah, ancilla, appliance,
     au pair girl, ayah, betweenmaid, biddy, chambermaid, chaperon,
     companion, contrivance, cook, creature, device, duenna, dummy,
     dupe, femme de chambre, fille de chambre, gentlewoman, girl,
     go-between, handmaiden, hired girl, housemaid, implement,
     instrument, interagent, intermediary, intermediate, intermedium,
     kitchenmaid, lady-help, lady-in-waiting, lever, live-in maid,
     live-out maid, maid, maidservant, mechanism, mediator, medium,
     midwife, minion, nursemaid, organ, parlormaid, pawn, plaything,
     puppet, scullery maid, servant, servant girl, servitress, slave,
     soubrette, stooge, tool, toy, tweeny, upstairs maid, vehicle,
     waiting maid, wench
  
  

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Handmaid
     servant (Gen. 16:1; Ruth 3:9; Luke 1:48). It is probable that
     Hagar was Sarah's personal attendant while she was in the house
     of Pharaoh, and was among those maid-servants whom Abram had
     brought from Egypt.