washerwoman

English

A washerwoman.

Etymology

From washer +‎ -woman.

Noun

washerwoman (plural washerwomen)

1. A woman who washes people's laundry.

   Synonym: laundress

   Coordinate term: washerman

   • 1810, [anonymous] […], chapter XXVIII, in Splendid Follies. A Novel, […]. Founded on Facts., volume III, London: […] J[ames] F[letcher] Hughes, […], →OCLC, pages 123–124:

     ‘I wish it would rain,’ continued she; ‘only we are going to have a six-week’s wash to-morrow, and that’s a heavy job for the poor creatures. La! don’t you pity washerwomen in hot weather; it’s the hardest work that’s done.’

2. (colloquial) A double drummer, large cicada of Australia, of species Thopha saccata.
3. A weedy plant of the Americas (Alternanthera caracasana).

Derived terms

• washerwomanly
• washerwoman's itch

Translations

woman whose employment is laundering

• Arabic: غَسَّالَة f (ḡassāla)
• Armenian: լվացարարուհի (hy) f (lvacʻararuhi)
• Azerbaijani: paltaryuyan
• Bulgarian: перачка f (peračka)
• Catalan: bugadera (ca) f
• Czech: pradlena (cs) f
• Danish: vaskekone c
• Esperanto: lavistino
• French: blanchisseuse (fr) f, lavandière (fr) f, laveuse (fr) f
• Georgian: მრეცხავი (mrecxavi)
• German: Wäscherin (de) f, Waschfrau (de) f
• Greek: πλύστρα (el) f (plýstra)

  Ancient: πλύντρια f (plúntria)

• Hindi: धोबिन (hi) f (dhobin)
• Hungarian: mosónő (hu)
• Ido: lavistino (io)
• Irish: caile daibhche m, bean níocháin f
• Navajo: asdzání daʼiigisígíí
• Norman: laverêsse f
• Norwegian: vaskekone f
• Pannonian Rusyn: райбачка f (rajbačka)
• Polish: praczka (pl) f
• Portuguese: lavadeira (pt)
• Quechua: t'aqsaq
• Romanian: spălătoreasă (ro) f
• Russian: пра́чка (ru) f (práčka), мо́йщица (ru) f (mójščica)
• Scots: washerwife
• Spanish: lavandera (es) f
• Swedish: tvätterska (sv)
• Tagalog: labandera
• Yiddish: וועשערין f (vesherin)

Further reading

• washerwoman on Wikipedia.Wikipedia