How to say "maid" in Japanese
Choosing the right word
- nounThe loanword for 'maid', typically suggesting a Western-style maid in uniform; the natural word for the maids of Western households and for the maid figure in fiction.
- 女中じょちゅうnounA dated word for a female domestic servant in a private household; it sounds old-fashioned and can come across as demeaning, so it is seldom the word you want in ordinary speech.
- お手伝いおてつだいnounLiterally 'helping'; it can mean a domestic helper or maid, but alone it often reads as the act of helping with housework, and the person is more usually called お手伝いさん.
- お手伝いさんおてつだいさんnounThe polite way to refer to a hired domestic helper, a woman employed to help with the housework; the natural choice in ordinary talk about such a person.
- 家政婦かせいふnounClosest to 'housekeeper': a woman employed to do a household's domestic work. Use it for a woman engaged as domestic staff rather than a casual helper.
Use 「メイド」 for the Western-style 'maid' image, 「お手伝いさん」 for a hired domestic helper, 家政婦 for a housekeeper-type employee, and avoid the dated, potentially demeaning 女中; 「お手伝い」 chiefly names the helping or the helper.
Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only
Japanese equivalents
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