charwoman

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English char Proto-Germanic *wībą Proto-West Germanic *wīb Old English wīf Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Old English wīfmann Middle English woman Middle English -woman English -woman English charwoman From char + -woman.

1. A woman employed to do housework, traditionally coming and going on a daily basis and paid weekly wages.

   “The cloth was laid by an occasional charwoman, who officiated in the capacity of Mr. Bob Sawyer’s housekeeper; […]”

   “Through a partly-opened door the noise of a scrubbing-brush led up to the charwoman, Maryann Money, a person who for a face had a circular disc, furrowed less by age than by long gazes of perplexity at distant objects.”