maid
/meɪd/ (bre, ipa) · /meɪd/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈmād/ (ame, mw)
maid — noun
1. a woman who is paid to clean rooms, make beds, and do other household work at ho
a woman who is paid to clean rooms, make beds, and do other household work at hotels or inside people's homes
The hotel maid had cleaned our room before we returned from breakfast.
common collocation: hotel maid
Mira works as a maid for an elderly couple and does their laundry every week.
collocation: works as a maid
When the maid arrived, she found the kitchen floor covered in spilled flour.
Christopher left a thank-you note on the pillow for the maid who tidied his room.
The maid's duties included vacuuming the carpets and scrubbing the bathroom tiles.
- housemaid
specifically a maid employed in a private home rather than a hotel
- chambermaid
a maid who cleans bedrooms, typically used for hotel staff
- domestic worker
a broader, more formal term that can include maids, cleaners, and other household employees
- cleaner
focuses on cleaning tasks and does not usually imply live-in work or room service
- employer
the person who hires and pays the maid
用法筆記
This is the most common modern meaning of maid. In hotels, the term chambermaid is also used for a maid who cleans guest rooms. The broader term housekeeper often refers to someone who supervises other cleaning staff.
常見錯誤
2. a dated or literary word for a girl or woman who has never been married; it can
a dated or literary word for a girl or woman who has never been married; it can also refer to someone who has never had sex
In Jane Austen's novels, a young maid of good family was expected to marry well.
archaic / literary register
The old photograph showed a shy maid of eighteen, wearing a simple white dress.
Historians found records referring to an unmarried maid who inherited her father's estate.
Folk songs often tell of a fair maid waiting for her lover.
- maiden
an even more archaic word with the same meaning; found in fairy tales and historical texts
- unmarried woman
the neutral modern phrase that has replaced this sense of maid
- virgin
emphasises the 'has not had sex' part of the meaning, but is more direct
- married woman
a woman who has married; the opposite in terms of marital status
- bride
a woman on or just after her wedding day
用法筆記
This sense is dated in modern English. Using maid to mean 'unmarried young woman' outside of historical, literary, or poetic contexts sounds very old-fashioned. The everyday term is young woman or unmarried woman. The related noun maiden shares this same old-fashioned flavour.