housekeeper

English

/ˈhaʊskipɚ/, /ˈhaʊskiːpə/

noun
Definitions
  • (now) Someone who owns a house as a place of residence; a householder.
  • Someone (traditionally a woman) employed to look after the home, typically by managing domestic servants or superintending household management; also someone with equivalent duties in a hotel, institution etc.
  • Someone who manages the running of a home, traditionally the female head of the household.
  • (colloquial) Someone who keeps to their house; someone who rarely ventures away from home; an unadventurous person, a homebody.

Etymology

Compound from English house (a house, company) + English keeper.

Origin

English

keeper

Gloss

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms