Where does “chambermaid” come from?
Chambermaid comes from English chamber and English maiden, with chamber deriving from Latin camera meaning a vaulted room or vault.
chambermaid (English): A maid who handles the chores in a bedroom
Definitions
- A maid who handles the chores in a bedroom
Ancestry of “chambermaid”, step by step
chambermaid traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English maid
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | maid | A girl or an unmarried young woman; maiden; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | mayde | young woman |
| 3 | English | maiden | A girl or an unmarried young woman; A female... |
| 4 | Middle English | mayden | maiden |
| 5 | Old English | mægden | girl; virgin, young unmarried woman |
| 6 | Proto-West Germanic | magadīn | little girl |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | -īn | Creates adjectives from nouns with the sense... |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | -īnaz | -en |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -iHnos | Creates adjectives of materials |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -no- | adjectival suffix |
via English chamber
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | chamber | A room or set of rooms, "particularly"; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | chambre | room; chamber; Alternative form of caumber |
| 3 | Old French | chambre | room; chamber; bedroom, sleeping quarters |
| 4 | Latin | camera | A chamber in its various senses, "including";... |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | καμάρα | Anything with an arched cover such as a covered... |
| 6 | Proto-Iranian | kamarā- | something curved |
| 7 | Proto-Iranian | kamárati | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | *kmárati | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | kh₂em- | to bend, to curve |