abigail (AB-i-gayl) noun
A lady’s maid.
[After Abigail, an attendant in The Scornful Lady (1610), a play by
Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. She was probably named after the
Biblical character Abigail the Carmelitess, who often called herself
a handmaid. The name Abigail derives from Hebrew Avigayil meaning
“father’s joy”.]
“Now haste ye, Mab’s sweet abigails,
And dress your queen for day!”
William Rose Benet (1886-1950).
Eponyms are little capsules of history. They capture a bundle of stories
in just a word or two. These terms, derived from the names of people,
summarize their characters and the qualities that made them stand out.
