female kitchen assistant; woman who helps with cooking
Refers to a woman employed to assist with food preparation, often in institutional settings like schools or hospitals. The term is somewhat dated and may carry traditional gender-role connotations.
A kitchen assistant is cutting vegetables in the school lunch room.
In the past, hospitals had several female kitchen helpers.
Compound of 炊事 (suiji, 'cooking') and 婦 (fu, 'woman'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term likely emerged in the early 20th century for female kitchen staff in institutional settings.