houseboy

plural houseboys · alternative houseboi · alternative house boy · alternative house-boy

1. historicalA young male domestic servant, especially in a British colony in former times.

   2 more examples

   House servants are usually either Chinese or Tamil, the former predominating, especially in towns of any size. The domestic staff will in general consist of a houseboy (in large establishments two houseboys), a water carrier (tukang ayer), whose duties include washing dishes and preparing baths, a cook, a gardener, a chauffeur or sais, and perhaps an ayah (if Chinese, amah) or two, according to the size of the family.

   1935, Ralph Lionel German, Handbook to British Malaya, 1935, [London]: [R. L. German]: Obtainable from the Malay Information Agency, Waterlow and Sons, →OCLC, page 50

   A married man with a family of three living in a private house will require in most cases a cook, houseboy, an amah (female servant) for washing and ironing, a second amah to take care of small children or infants, and one or possibly two gardeners depending on the size of the lot. A syce (chauffeur) is optional in each individual case. Cooks, houseboys, and amahs are usually Chinese, while gardeners and chauffeurs are Malay.

   1949, Office of International Trade with Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, International Reference Service, volume 6, Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 64

2. derogatoryhistoricaloffensiveA non-white adult male domestic servant.