fille de chambre
- noun
- Archaic
:
camarera
- She was hired as a fille de chambre at the historic manor, responsible for keeping the rooms immaculate.
Examples
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The fille de chambre quietly tidied the suite while the guests were out.
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In the grand hotels of Paris, every floor had its own fille de chambre to attend to guests' needs.
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The fille de chambre cleaned the room every morning.
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Many filles de chambre worked in the grand hotel.
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At the luxurious resort, the fille de chambre ensured that every detail was perfect for the guests' arrival.
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The fille de chambre skillfully arranged the fresh flowers in the room before the guests checked in.
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During her time at the castle, the fille de chambre took pride in making the beds and cleaning the elegant bedrooms.
Synonyms
264
1.0
A woman paid to clean and cook in another person's home
27
1.0
A woman who cleans houses or offices for pay
11
5.3
A hotel worker who cleans and tidies guest bedrooms
8
2.4
A woman paid to clean and do other jobs in a home
3
7.1
A woman who works in a home doing cleaning and cooking
1
9.7
A woman who cleans houses or offices, often in the past
A woman who works in a home doing cleaning and cooking
Surface Forms
Morphology
fille + de + chambre
The phrase is directly compositional: fille = girl/maid, de = of, chambre = room, so 'girl of the room' straightforwardly describes a woman working in/for rooms. This pattern parallels English 'chambermaid' and similar Romance constructions, so a learner who knows the constituents can readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Fille de chambre comes from French and literally means fille ('girl') of the chambre ('room'). In old hotels and large houses a young woman with that name cleaned and looked after the bedrooms for guests, so the phrase came to mean 'a maid who cleans bedrooms' and is now often used in historical contexts.