housekeeper
See also: house keeper
English
Etymology
From house + keeper.
Pronunciation
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhaʊskipɚ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈhaʊskiːpə/
Audio (US) (file) - Hyphenation: house‧keep‧er
Noun
housekeeper (plural housekeepers)
- (now rare) Someone who owns a house as a place of residence; a householder. [from 15th c.]
- 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, chapter 1, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume I, London: Harrison and Co., […], published 1781, OCLC 316121541:
- He was often heard to express his fears of coming upon the parish; and to bless God, that, on account of his having been so long a housekeeper, he was intitled to that provision.
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- Someone (traditionally a woman) employed to look after the home, typically by managing domestic servants or superintending household management; also someone with equivalent duties in a hotel, institution etc. [from 16th c.]
- She was their third housekeeper, but after a month or so she also gave up.
- Someone who manages the running of a home, traditionally the female head of the household. [from 17th c.]
- (colloquial, now rare) Someone who keeps to their house; someone who rarely ventures away from home; an unadventurous person, a homebody. [from 18th c.]
- 1915, John Buchan, Salute to Adventurers:
- I do assure you he is no house-keeper. I have seen him in desperate conflict with savage men, and even with His Majesty's redcoats.
- 1915, John Buchan, Salute to Adventurers:
Coordinate terms
- housemaid
Translations
someone employed to manage or look after a home
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someone who manages the home, traditionally female head of household
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