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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

See Examples For:

abigail Abigail

It is customarily asserted that abigail, as a cant term for a waiting-maid, only arose after Abigail Hill, the Duchess of Marlborough’s cousin, became waiting-woman to the queen, and supplanted her kinswoman.

From Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature by Bardsley, Charles W.

Madame had none on whom she could rely except her faithful abigail.

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

Her cheeks flamed before the sharp eyes of the abigail, and then flamed again with scorn at her own folly.

From The Fortunes of the Farrells by Vaizey, George de Horne, Mrs.

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

From Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature by Bardsley, Charles W.

The anxious abigail felt that they were in precisely the same harrowing position as Sister Anne and Fatima.

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

Now, after Welsh identical twins Abigail and Emily Roper won bronze medals within a couple of hours of each other on Monday, Evans has delivered gold.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

In November 2025, Abigail Spanberger won Virginia’s governorship in a landslide after promising to make data centers “pay their own way and their fair share.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

Alma Padel founder Abigail McCulloch, 30, was drawn to the sport after playing with international classmates at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

For the filmed sequences, Weist worked with cinematographer and visual artist Abigail Raphael Collins, whose research has explored the role Hollywood has played in constructing public perceptions of American state power.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

Stanton became nervous when Post nominated her friend, activist Abigail Bush, to serve as president.

From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling