noun
Meaning 1
Alternative form of handmaid.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, alternative
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
handmaiden
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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noun
Meaning 2
A cisgender woman who supports transgender rights.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: derogatory
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
a personal maid or female attendant
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: handmaid
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: maid, maidservant, housemaid, amah
noun
Meaning 4
in a subordinate position
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- theology should be the handmaiden of ethics
- the state cannot be a servant of the church
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: handmaid, servant
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: subordinateness, subsidiarity
History
Etymology
From Middle English hande mayden, handmaiden, hand mayden, hand-mayden, handmayden, hondemaiden, hond maydyn, hoondmaydyn. By surface analysis, hand + maiden. Sense 2 is an allusion to Canadian writer Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985), in which "handmaids" are women who serve the male commanders in a patriarchal dystopia.