Washerwoman

Both terms are now old-fashioned; equivalent work nowadays is done by a laundry worker in large commercial premises, or a laundrette (laundromat) attendant.

As evidenced by the character of Nausicaa in the Odyssey, in the social conventions depicted by Homer and evidently taken for granted in Greek society of the time, there was nothing unusual or demeaning in a princess and her handmaidens personally washing laundry.

A festival in their honour was held at the end of winter (Mi-Careme, halfway through Lent, i.e. three weeks after Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday).

The wet nurse to George III of the United Kingdom, who was born two months prematurely, was so valued by the king when he grew up that her daughter was appointed laundress to the Royal Household, "a sinecure place of great emolument".

While having a significant social function in various human cultures over thousands of years, the spread of washing machines and self-service laundries has rendered washerwomen unnecessary in much of the contemporary world.