Lady-in-waiting

Quick meaning: Lady-in-waiting is a noun meaning A lady, often a noblewoman, in the household of a queen, princess, or other woman of higher rank who attends her as a personal assistant, generally a role considered an honour.

Meaning

A lady, often a noblewoman, in the household of a queen, princess, or other woman of higher rank who attends her as a personal assistant, generally a role considered an honour.

Example Sentences

[T]he electreſs [Sophia Charlotte of Hanover] was heard to ſay to one of her ladies in waiting, "that it vexed her to the very heart to go and act in Pruſſia the theatrical queen along with her Eſop.["]

Young girls from wealthy families were often sent to the royal court to help the queen and noblewomen. After becoming a teenager, a girl could then be named a lady-in-waiting. These ladies assisted their mistress in any way and usually went with her when she traveled.

Of a sudden a man leapt up to the top of the wall from the other side, and then, hanging for a moment, dropped lightly upon the grass within. All the ladies-in-waiting shrieked at the suddenness of his coming, but the man ran to the Queen and kneeled at her feet, and she saw it was Robin Hood.

At last she [Makeda, the Queen of Sheba] was overcome by a desire to go to Jerusalem and see with her own eyes the things about which she had heard. [...] She chose as her companion on the journey her lady-in-waiting, and the two of them travelled in sedan chairs mounted on the backs of camels.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include housemaiden, damsel, baroness-in-waiting, woman, lady, noblewoman.

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