housekeeper

[hous-kee-per]

See more synonyms for housekeeper on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person, often hired, who does or directs the domestic work and planning necessary for a home, as cleaning or buying food.
an employee of a hotel, hospital, etc., who supervises the cleaning staff.

Origin of housekeeper

First recorded in 1375–1425, housekeeper is from the late Middle English word houskeper. See house, keeper

Related formshouse·keep·er·like, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for housekeeper

servant, caretaker, housewife, maid, housemaid, chambermaid

Examples from the Web for housekeeper

Contemporary Examples of housekeeper

She was once quoted as saying that she wanted to help all women who “are not wasting life being a housekeeper.”
Meet 'The Queen of Thieves' Marm Mandelbaum, New York City's First Mob Boss
J. North Conway
September 7, 2014
When Hart and Cohle interviewed the old Tuttle housekeeper, she also remembered a scarred face.
How ‘True Detective’ Will End
Andrew Romano
March 3, 2014
It was Beethoven who once fired his housekeeper for telling a lie.
Japan’s Beloved Deaf Composer is Neither Deaf Nor a Composer
Jimmy So
February 13, 2014
A housekeeper came out to buy some, wiping her hands on her apron.
Mexico City’s Magical Moment of Resurgence
Condé Nast Traveler
February 10, 2014
And, while he was vetoing marriage equality, it turns out that he was carrying on with his housekeeper!
‘To Be Takei’ Traces George Takei’s Journey From Japanese Internment Camps to Cultural Icon
Marlow Stern
January 22, 2014

Historical Examples of housekeeper

The housekeeper had lived with your father, and been retained by his lordship.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
This led me to request a sight of that villa—a crown to the housekeeper got me admittance.
Night and Morning, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
"And precious little good will it do her," said the housekeeper.
The Works of Whittier, Volume V (of VII)
John Greenleaf Whittier
We keep all close till after the burying, for fear—that was the housekeeper's order.
Tales And Novels, Volume 9 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
My father had a housekeeper, a trusty woman, he considered her.
Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood
George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for housekeeper

housekeeper

noun

a person, esp a woman, employed to run a household
bad housekeeper a person who is not an efficient and thrifty domestic manager
good housekeeper a person who is an efficient and thrifty domestic manager

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for housekeeper

mid-15c., "householder," from house (n.) + agent noun of keep (v.). Sense of "female head domestic servant of a house" is from c.1600.