Betweenmaid

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A female domestic servant who performs general duties and assists other household staff members
2. A maid employed to help with various tasks and support the work of other servants in a residence
3. A female servant who undertakes miscellaneous household work and provides assistance to other domestic workers

Etymology: "Betweenmaid" is an alternative spelling of "between-maid," a compound formed from the preposition "between" and "maid." The sense is a servant who works between two others, typically a girl or young woman hired to help with the lesser tasks of a household, filling the space between a higher-ranking maid and the kitchen or scullery staff. The "between" part works as a compound element here, much as it does in words like "between-decks" on a ship, where the space lies between two levels. "Maid," from Old English "mægden," originally meant a young woman or girl of any social rank before narrowing to a female servant, so the compound pairs a positional idea with a term of service. The spelling without the hyphen is the same word written as one unit.