housemaid; cleaning lady
Obsolete term for a female domestic servant who did cleaning and other housework. Not used in modern Japanese; the modern equivalent would be 家政婦 or 清掃員.
In merchant houses of the Edo period, the housemaid would clean from early in the morning.
Compound of 上 (うわ, 'upper' or 'above') and 働き (はたらき, 'work'). The exact derivation is uncertain, but it likely referred to a servant who worked in the main living areas rather than in the kitchen or outdoors.