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

With slow and measured tread they walked, while to their right minced Betty, a small abigail, swaying a lantern.

From The ghosts of their ancestors by Mills, Weymer Jay

Yes, that's just like it," said the insolent abigail; "nothing ever can content some people.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 1. No 1, June 1850 by Various

And Ugly, her abigail, she had her say, too?

From Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature by Bardsley, Charles W.

The abigail carried the letter to the boy, and the boy departed, very well pleased to get clear of the castle without having received any further reproof.

From Run to Earth A Novel by Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth)

Though there had been a tiff or an estrangement, the gamekeeper and the abigail were lovers.

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