handmaid

[ hand-meyd ]

noun

1. something that is necessarily subservient or subordinate to another:

   Ceremony is but the handmaid of worship.

2. a female servant or attendant.

Word History and Origins

Origin of handmaid¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; hand, maid

Example Sentences

The Handmaid only finds liberation when she steals out of her room to bed the chauffeur.

From The Daily Beast

Gaze not upon another man's wife, and be not inquisitive after his handmaid, and approach not her bed.

From Project Gutenberg

But you found me giving a lesson in Armenian to this handmaid?

From Project Gutenberg

Geometry is desirable, not as a noble intellectual exercise, but as a handmaid to natural philosophy.

From Project Gutenberg

As time went on she came to entertain the clearest views as to science being the handmaid of religion.

From Project Gutenberg

Friendship was given us by nature as the handmaid of virtues and not as the companion of our vices.

From Project Gutenberg