noun
Archaic term for a female servant who worked in the kitchen, especially in samurai or wealthy households during the Edo period. Now historical.
See also: お三どん (おさんどん)
江戸時代の武家屋敷では、おさんと呼ばれる台所女中が働いていた。
In samurai residences of the Edo period, kitchen maids called 'osan' worked.
noun
kitchen duties; cooking
Archaic term for the work of a kitchen maid; cooking and related chores. Often used in the context of historical domestic service.
See also: お三どん (おさんどん)
彼女は朝から晩までおさんに追われていた。
She was busy with kitchen duties from morning till night.
Rare kanji spelling combining honorific 御 with 爨.
A more familiar or colloquial term for a kitchen maid or kitchen work, often with a slightly pejorative or humorous nuance. お三 is the more formal or archaic base form.
The origin is uncertain. The kanji 三 (three) may be ateji, and the word possibly derives from a name or a term for a low-ranking servant. The spelling 爨 directly means 'hearth' or 'cooking' and is likely a later semantic assignment.