Added 2 October 2026
handmaiden
noun
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). More about handmaiden at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- Alternative form of handmaid.
- A cisgender woman who supports transgender rights.
Origin
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 writer Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale (1985), in which "handmaids" are women who serve the male commanders in a patriarchal dystopia.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)