Kitchen maid (domestic worker)

Dutch painting of a young kitchen maid. 19th century or early 20th century.

A kitchen maid or kitchen girl is a young housemaid, or other junior female domestic worker. In the hierarchy of a great house she ranked below a cook and above a scullery maid. An experienced kitchen maid is an assistant cook; the position may be compared to that of a chef de partie in a professional kitchen.

The kitchen maid reports to the Head Cook, if there is one.

Her uniform may consist of a blouse and a skirt, and apron.

Margaret Powell worked as a kitchen girl at the age of 15.^[1]

An early meaning of "slut" was "kitchen maid or drudge" (c. 1450), a meaning retained as late as the 18th century, when hard knots of dough found in bread were referred to as "slut's pennies".^[2] A notable example of this use is Samuel Pepys's diary description of his servant girl as "an admirable slut" who "pleases us mightily, doing more service than both the others and deserves wages better" (February 1664).^[3] "Slut" and "slutishness" occur in Shakespeare's comedy As You Like It, written in 1599 or 1600.^[4]

References

1. "Why downstairs HATED upstairs: The acerbic memoirs of a Twenties maid reveal what domestic staff REALLY thought of their masters". Daily Mail. 26 February 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
2. "slut"; etymonline.com
3. "Samuel Pepys Diary February 1664 complete". Pepys.info. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
4. Shakespeare, William. As You Like It (III, iii, 1531–1537). "[Audrey:] Well, I am not fair; and therefore I pray the gods make me / honest. / [Touchstone:] Truly, and to cast away honesty upon a foul slut were / to put good meat into an unclean dish. / [Audrey:] I am not a slut, though I thank the gods I am foul. / [Touchstone:] Well, praised be the gods for thy foulness; / sluttishness may come hereafter. ..."