abigail

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
See also: Abigail and Abigaíl

English

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

From the name Abigail, as given to a waiting-maid in Beaumont and Fletcher's play The Scornful Lady.

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

abigail (plural abigails)

  1. (obsolete) A lady's maid. [mid 17th–19th c.][1]
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, page 415:
      It was therefore concluded that the Abigails should, by turns, relieve each other on one of his lordship’s horses, which was presently equipped with a side-saddle for that purpose.
    • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre:
      In the servants’ hall two coachmen and three gentlemen’s gentlemen stood or sat round the fire; the abigails, I suppose, were upstairs with their mistresses; the new servants, that had been hired from Millcote, were bustling about everywhere.

Derived terms

[edit]

Translations

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Lesley Brown, editor-in-chief, William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, editors (2002), “abigail”, in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles, 5th edition, Oxford, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 4.