abigail
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]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈa.bɪ.ɡeɪl/
Audio (Southern England): (file) Audio (Canada): (file) - (US) IPA(key): /ˈa.bɪ.ɡeɪl/
Noun
[edit]abigail (plural abigails)
- (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]lady's waiting-maid
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References
[edit]- ^ 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.
- “abigail”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “abigail”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- Albert Barrère and Charles G[odfrey] Leland, compilers and editors (1889–1890) “abigail”, in A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant […], volume I (A–K), Edinburgh: […] The Ballantyne Press, →OCLC, pages 4–5.
- John S[tephen] Farmer, compiler (1890) “abigail”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume I, [London: […] Thomas Poulter and Sons] […], →OCLC, pages 5–6.