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In an airplane, the lady attending you is known as the attendant, besides sometimes being called a stewardess or air hostess. What does she do? Just serve you.

Then what is that my maid does? Nothing but serve me. Can I therefore call my maid, my attendant?

What about my other servant? Can I call him my attendant too, since I cannot call a male person my maid?

Is gender the only difference? Then who and what are pages?

I am looking for a clear distinction between these four terms.

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  • You have servants? Really?
    – tchrist ♦
    Aug 9, 2013 at 18:20
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    Airline attendants are quite firm that their primary duty is to attend to the safety needs of the passengers. Coffee, tea or whatever is merely incidental. The term maid is based on the historic pattern of unmarried women primarily filling the role of domestic cleaners.
    – bib
    Aug 9, 2013 at 19:31
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    Did you look up their definitions? I feel like that would answer your question since your statement doesn't seem to take such definitions into account. Do attendant or page or servant have gender connotations as strong as stewardess or hostess or maid?
    – Mitch
    Aug 9, 2013 at 20:44

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Maid is a female domestic servant, whereas attendant is a person employed to provide a service to the public in a particular place. Maid is (female) gender specific, whereas attendant is used for both genders.

Page is usually a young boy in uniform attending a specific person or performing a specific duty like door attendant or errand.

A slave is a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them.

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