handmaiden

Meaning

  1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of handmaid.
  2. (derogatory) A cisgender woman who supports transgender rights.

Frequency

39k
Etymology

In summary

From Middle English hande mayden, handmaiden, hand mayden, hand-mayden, handmayden, hondemaiden, hond maydyn, hoondmaydyn. By surface analysis, hand + maiden. Sense 2 is an allusion to Canadian poet Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985), in which "handmaids" are women who serve the male commanders in a patriarchal dystopia.

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