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• abigail
  abigail

  noun

  a lady's maid.
• Abigail
  Abigail

  noun

  (in the Bible) the wife of Nabal and later of David.

abigail

¹ American  

[ab-i-geyl] / ˈæb ɪˌgeɪl /

noun

1. a lady's maid.

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Abigail ² American  

[ab-i-geyl] / ˈæb ɪˌgeɪl /

noun

1. (in the Bible) the wife of Nabal and later of David.

2. a first name: from a Hebrew word meaning “joy of the father.”

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Abigail British  

/ ˈæbɪˌɡeɪl /

noun

1. Old Testament the woman who brought provisions to David and his followers and subsequently became his wife (I Samuel 25:1–42)

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Etymology

Origin of abigail

1645–55; after Abigail, name of attendant in play The Scornful Lady (1610), by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher

Example Sentences

"He is gone at last," said the abigail, sipping her glass; "and here is to his good journey."

From The Abbot by Scott, Walter, Sir

I could not believe the missive was intended for me; and I asked the abigail who had delivered it if she was not mistaken in the recipient.

From The Merrie Tales of Jacques Tournebroche And Child Life in Town and Country by Allinson, A. R. (Alfred Richard)

Foster-sister and confidential abigail to the Marquise de Gange, the two were as united as if they had indeed been sisters.

From The Maid of Honour, Vol. 1 (of 3) A Tale of the Dark Days of France by Wingfield, Lewis

On the left is the cunning abigail, who supplanted the duchess in the favour of Queen Anne—Mrs. Masham.

From Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad with Tales and Miscellanies Now First Collected Vol. II (of 3) by Jameson, Mrs. (Anna)

Coachman, footman, abigail, and doubtless all fitting etceteras, owned her as their sovereign lady and mistress.

From Paris and the Parisians in 1835 (Vol. 1 of 2) by Trollope, Frances Milton