stewardess

From steward +‎ -ess (feminine suffix).

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈstu.ɚ.dɪs/, /ˈstʊɹ.dɪs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /stjuː.əˈdɛs/, /ˈstjuː.ə.dɛs/, /ˈstjuː.ə.dɪs/, /ˈstjʊə.dɪs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -ɛs
• Hyphenation: stew‧ard‧ess

stewardess (plural stewardesses or (humorous, nonstandard) stewardii)

1. A female flight attendant (a member of the crew of an airplane who is responsible for the comfort and safety of its passengers).
2. A woman who works at housekeeping and passenger service aboard a ship, yacht, or other type of boat that carries passengers.
   • 1888 September, Henry James, “The Patagonia”, in The English Illustrated Magazine, volume 5, page 782:

     She usually rang for the stewardess early, but this morning of course there had been no ring. The stewardess had gone in all the same about eight o'clock and found the cabin empty.

   • 1905, The Trained Nurse and Hospital Review - Volume 35, page 296:

     Certainly a stewardess who may have fifty or even a hundred passengers to look after cannot give much attention to nursing, even if she knows how.

   • 1997, Violet Jessop, John Maxtone-Graham, Titanic Survivor: The Newly Discovered Memoirs of Violet Violet Jessop who Survived Both the Titanic and Britannic Disasters, page 195:

     He regarded the tray with apprehension, then with dismay as the stewardess said: "She's just rung for breakfast in bed, going to stay there all day as she feels a cold coming."

   • 2013, Julie Perry, The Insiders' Guide to Becoming a Yacht Stewardess:

     I came into the industry as a chef with restaurant and catering experience but no real understanding of what the whole role of "stewardess" entailed on board.

3. A female steward (any sense).
   • 1898, Luise Mühlbach, The Reign of the Great Elector, page 105:

     The stewardess, principal inspector of the cow stable and the butter establishment, was indeed with the young lady, who had just entered the yard.

   • 1957, Baltimore and Ohio Employes Magazine - Volumes 43-44, page 15:

     The occasion – the very first trip of a stewardess on Capitol, eastbound B & O […]

   • 1968, Daily Labor Report, page 4:

     Arbitrator John Day Larkin upholds the discharge of a female employee who had a fight with a union stewardess on a company parking lot.

   • 1971, New Zealand. Department of Labour, Awards, Agreements, Orders, and Decisions Made Under the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, the Apprentices Act, the Labour Disputes Investigation Act, and Other Industrial Legislation for the Year 1970, page 3860:

     On the transfer of any hostess or stewardess from one permanent base to another, the employer shall pay the expenses properly incurred by the hostess or stewardess for the removal of her dependants, her furniture, and personal effects, such expenses to be mutually agreed upon.

   • 2013, Tanith Lee, A Heroine of the World:

     The kitchen stewardess says madam sits there glaring at the paper on the wall.

This term is still commonly used in Singapore and Malaysia, but is now dated and considered sexist language in the United States.

(female):

(gender-neutral):

(male):

• air nurse, flight nurse (obsolete form for air stewardess, from when medical qualifications were needed)

Borrowed from English stewardess.

• IPA^(key): /ˌsty.ʋɑrˈdɛs/, /ˌsti.ʋɑrˈdɛs/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ste‧war‧dess
• Rhymes: -ɛs

stewardess f (plural stewardessen, masculine steward)

1. stewardess, air hostess

   Synonyms: hofmeesteres, luchtgastvrouw, luchtwaardin