女中
Meanings
Dated term for a live-in female domestic servant. Now considered sensitive and often replaced by お手伝いさん or other euphemisms.
See also: お手伝いさん
In old large houses, there were several maidservants.
hostess (in a ryokan); waitress (in a traditional restaurant)
Used for female staff in traditional inns or restaurants, especially those wearing kimono. Still encountered in historical or traditional contexts, but can feel old-fashioned.
The ryokan hostess showed us to our room.
Archaic term for a lady-in-waiting or female attendant at a noble court.
Court ladies in the Heian period attended to the personal needs of the nobility.
Archaic honorific term for a woman of status, similar to 'lady'. Not used in modern Japanese.
Old documents record gifts presented to the ladies.
Usage patterns
- 〈人〉を女中として雇うto hire someone as a maid
That household had hired a young woman as a maid.
- 女中奉公に出るto go into service as a maid
She went into domestic service as a maid at age fifteen.