2

Context:
Fictional world (with magic, slavery (not widely used)) and so on.

A woman is the estate manager for small estate in a city. She oversees other hired servants and serve estate owners directly. Estate owners consider her equal (part of backstory). Title of the story is управляющая (поместья). Is "head maid" the correct translation of her title? Is it considered rude to call her that?

Improve this question
7
  • 2
    If she's the head servant of a household who supervises maids, you could call her the housekeeper. I'm not sure what you mean by an 'estate in a city'. In the context of a large establishment with servants, 'estate' implies a landholding in the country with a big house on it.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented May 20 at 9:43
  • Someone doing such a job today will have a very different job title to someone doing it 200 years ago, and it's likely to vary geographically too, as well as depend on duties (would she control finances, allocate work, hire and fire, involved in business/agriculture/entertaining, is she limited to one location or travel with owners, etc). But if it's fantasy you can make up a title. Estate manager might work but it doesn't sound like she manages an actual estate
    – Stuart F
    Commented May 20 at 10:02
  • I'm going to assume that the edit by @KillingTime is valid in all respects, and have answered as such below; however, one could question whether the original "...title in story..." could have better been expressed as "...the character's title within the story...", rather than "...the title of the story...". If the character's title is управляющая (поместья), rather than the story's title, then any of my suggestions below would be valid, and the second paragraph can and should be ignored.
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Commented May 20 at 11:55
  • 1
    The one thing she is not is a maid of any sort. You can be sure she does no cleaning. Butler is more like it as she runs the house and oversees all staff.
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented May 20 at 12:51
  • 2
    @YosefBaskin - That's why I suggested housekeeper - in a traditional large household she would be the female equivalent of the butler.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented May 20 at 16:14

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

Google Translate gives “manager (estate)” as the translation; if the estate in question is owned by someone who would be considered a noble, a valid translation might be seneschal; other valid translations might be steward (definition 1 or 2) or major-domo (definition 1).

Given that this is the title of a fantasy story, I would probably opt to translate it as The Seneschal.

Alternatively, since the character in question is specifically indicated to be female, it might be better to use seneschale, specifically with the terminal e, in this case.

Improve this answer
5
  • 1
    I doubt many readers would be familiar with seneschal, maybe it's common in American English. Is it? As for major-domo or majordomo, in Italian–maggiordomo– this is a masculine title. It's in the definition: a man in charge of a great household, as that of a sovereign;
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented May 20 at 15:31
  • @Mari-LouA - In general, in English, where not otherwise specified (e.g., no feminine-specific version of the term is shown to exist), the masculine includes the feminine. As far as seneschal, anyone who has read historical fiction set in medieval or renaissance times is likely to have encountered the term, as is anyone who reads fantasy that has a similar setting esthetic.
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Commented May 20 at 15:46
  • I did not know that seneschal is used in fantasy fiction set in the medieval. I confess this is the first time I have heard it.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented May 20 at 15:52
  • 1
    @Mari-LouA - further research suggests that there was in fact a feminine form of seneschal, to wit, seneschale, designating specifically a woman handling the duties. As such, perhaps translating as the latter, seneschale, explicitly with the terminal e, would be preferable for this particular case.
    – Jeff Zeitlin
    Commented May 20 at 15:53
  • 2
    Seneschal is clearly an obscure word that the vast majority of readers (myself included) would never have encountered. However for the translator it may be the better of the two evils faced. In my opinion there is no English equivalent as the situation has no real parallel. One could use the nearest equivalent — housekeeper or whatever — but this would jar ever time it was used, or stick with the original or this apparent archaic equivalent, after explaining it on first usage. I prefer the latter, whis is my reason for upvoting.
    – David
    Commented May 20 at 17:05
1

Historically, this person was known as a steward. They were exclusively men, but I don't think that matters given the nature of the story and there is the feminine "stewardess."

The term is suitable for the fictional world you describe.

OED

steward

1.a. An official who controls the domestic affairs of a household, supervising the service of his master's table, directing the domestics, and regulating household expenditure; a major-domo. Obsolete exc. Historical.

a1616 If not, let me see thee a steward still, the fellow of seruants. W. Shakespeare, Twelfth Night (1623) ii. v. 151

Also

5.a. One who manages the affairs of an estate on behalf of his or her employer. [(sometimes in the absence of that employer) my addition]

1892 The estate had been so long without a head, under the management of the steward. F. P. Verney et al., Mem. Verney Family Civil War vol. I. 14

The Scottish term is Factor.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.