in a subordinate position
"theology should be the handmaiden of ethics"
"the state cannot be a servant of the church"
a personal maid or female attendant
A maid that waits at hand; a female servant or attendant.
The word comes from Middle English and was originally a compound of hand and maid, where hand meant "at one's disposal." This literal sense of being ready to serve eventually evolved into the modern meaning of a female servant.