maid of honour
1. An unmarried lady, usually of noble birth, who attends upon a queen or princess.
| c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. xlv. vii, Her maides of honor shall on her attend. 1646 Crashaw Sosp. a'Herode xlii, The foul queen's most abhorred maids of honour..stand to wait upon her. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 109 ¶4 The Action at the Tilt-yard you may be sure won the fair Lady, who was a Maid of Honour. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 189 Another court-festivity is at the marriage of one of the empress's maids of honour. 1842 Tennyson Day-Dream 80 The maid-of-honour blooming fair. |
2. A kind of cheesecake orig. sold at Richmond, Surrey.
| 1769 Public Advertiser 11 Mar. 3/3 Almond and Lemon Cheescakes, Maid of Honour, Sweetmeat Tarts. 1836 T. Hook G. Gurney I. 110 What are called cheesecakes elsewhere, are here called maids of honour. 1865 Reader 16 Sept. 311/2 A maid-of-honour, fresh from the cuisine of the Star and Garter, is relishable with its adjuncts. 1942 Mrs. Belloc Lowndes Let. 19 Nov. (1971) 235 There were lobster patties, and queer looking Maid of Honour cakes. 1960 Good Housek. Cookery Bk. (rev. ed.) 394/1 Maids of Honour..3 oz. butter, 2 eggs,..1 oz. blanched almonds..puff pastry, [etc.]. 1966 J. Dos Passos Best Times (1968) i. 11, I had so many little cheesecakes called Maids of Honor that I felt a bit sick. |
3. The principal unmarried female attendant on the bride at a wedding; a bridesmaid. Also fig.
| 1895 in Funk's Stand. Dict. 1906 M. E. Freeman Light of Soul 348 Lily asked Maria to be her maid of honor. She planned to be married in church. 1911 H. S. Harrison Queed xxi. 267 A victoria containing two lovely young girls sponsor and maid of honor for South Carolina. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 321 The maids of honour..sisters of the bride, wore very becoming costumes. 1974 ‘R. B. Dominic’ Epitaph for Lobbyist x. 90 The maid of honour and the bridesmaids passed by...Betty Jo appeared on the arm of her father..floating in a cloud of white. |
Hence maid-of-honourship nonce-wd.
| 1896 A. Dobson in Longm. Mag. Sept. 456 Her Maid-of-Honourship came to an end with her marriage. |