handmaiden
Britishnoun
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a person or thing that serves a useful but subordinate purpose
logic is the handmaid of philosophy
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archaic a female servant or attendant
Explanation
It's an old-fashioned word now, but a handmaiden was once a servant who worked for a wealthy family. You might feel like a handmaiden when your parents tell you to scrub every bathroom in the house. Long ago, a handmaiden (also called a handmaid) often served as the personal servant or maid to the lady of the house. You're much more likely to encounter this word in a book or movie these days, since someone employed in a home is more likely to be called an assistant, a housekeeper, or a cleaner. The term handmaiden comes from the sense of being "close at hand."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ms. Horn takes trouble to depict Kay as an individual rather than a handmaiden.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
They were joined by "handmaiden" Kaura Taylor, from Texas, who calls herself Asnat.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2025
For more than three decades after its creation in 1913, the Fed was largely a handmaiden of the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2025
After all, feeling hopeful is purpose's handmaiden, an involuntary mental state, like love or joy, that softens reality's sharp edges.
From Salon ● May 30, 2021
The allegiances shifted: the handmaiden of chromatin was suddenly its queen.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
