handmaiden

/ ˈhændˌmeɪdən /

noun

1. a person or thing that serves a useful but subordinate purpose

   logic is the handmaid of philosophy

2. archaic,  a female servant or attendant

Example Sentences

From the journals Metcalfe has surmised that Vivien, herself a brilliant literary scholar and teacher, had willfully lived out her marriage under Blundy’s shadow, the dutiful handmaiden to a literary eminence.

From Los Angeles Times

For more than three decades after its creation in 1913, the Fed was largely a handmaiden of the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times

These debates, especially if witnessed by younger women who haven't fully made up their minds about their political identities, help to instill a sense that being a handmaiden of patriarchy is cringeworthy.

From Salon

The deeper truth is this: education is not the handmaiden of politics — it is its lifeblood.

From Salon

Above all else, Trump is here to be the handmaiden for a whole new era of scamminess.

From Salon

Related Words

• au pair 
• chambermaid 
• girl 
• housemaid