handmaiden noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced American Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of handmaiden noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

handmaiden

noun

NAmE//ˈhændˌmeɪdn//

(also handmaid

NAmE//ˈhændmeɪd//

)

1(old-fashioned) a female servant

Want to learn more?

Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.

2(formal) something that supports and helps something else Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences.

See handmaiden in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Check pronunciation: handmaiden