handmaid

[ hand-meyd ]

noun

1. something that is necessarily subservient or subordinate to another:

   Ceremony is but the handmaid of worship.

2. a female servant or attendant.

Word History and Origins

Origin of handmaid¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; hand, maid

Example Sentences

Reactionary centrism and false balance have created their own fantasyland: Rather than preserving and building on what’s best in our civic tradition, as their practitioners imagine, they’ve become witless handmaids in its ongoing destruction.

From Salon

Atwood’s 1985 novel about a futuristic patriarchal society where the robed handmaids are forced to bear children for leaders, has reemerged in recent years as a cultural touchstone thanks to the popular TV series.

From Seattle Times

But the season's seventh episode was the first time the program portrayed a handmaid dying in childbirth.

From Salon

June hasn’t seen her eldest since Gilead used the preteen to force June to disclose the secret location of her fellow runaway handmaids.

From Washington Post

It was Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” from creator Bruce Miller and starring Elisabeth Moss as June, a “handmaid” forced to produce children for a new ruling class of men.

From Los Angeles Times