housekeeping

[ hous-kee-ping ]

noun

1. the maintenance of a house or domestic establishment.
2. the management of household affairs.
3. the management, care, and servicing of property and equipment of an industrial or commercial building or organization.
4. the ongoing routine, procedures, operations, and management of a commercial enterprise, government, organization, or the like.
5. Computers. system tasks, as initialization and managing peripheral devices, that must be done to permit a computer program to execute properly but that do not directly contribute to program output.

housekeeping

/ ˈhaʊsˌkiːpɪŋ /

noun

1. the running of a household
2. money allocated for the running of a household
3. organization and tidiness in general, as of an office, shop, etc
4. the general maintenance of a computer storage system, including removal of obsolete files, documentation, security copying, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of housekeeping¹

First recorded in 1530–40; house + keeping

Example Sentences

Olvera has since moved up the ranks at the hotel to housekeeping inspector, a role in which she oversees the work of a team of around 45 housekeepers.

From Los Angeles Times

Ashamed of the truth, Cahaya, now 28, has always explained her long absences by telling friends and relatives that she bounces between housekeeping jobs in different locations.

From Los Angeles Times

Vidal, repeating other historians’ assertions, pointed out this was “not necessarily, in those frontier days, the sign of a smoking gun — only messy male housekeeping.”

From Salon

More recently she found work in housekeeping at a hotel in Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times

“I really liked this sort of theory of sleep,” he says, “as a basic housekeeping mechanism that keeps the brain healthy and fully functional.”

From Science Magazine

Related Words

• housework