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Ayah

2 stages from Portuguese to English.

Today it means a nursemaid or maid in South Asia

Where does the word "ayah" come from? It comes from Portuguese aia, adopted directly into English (1780s).

Portuguese · 1500s

"governess, nursemaid"

origin disputed (traditionally Latin avia 'grandmother', though some link it to a Gothic word for 'guardian'); Portuguese households in Goa, taken by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510, gave the word to local nursemaids

English · 1780s

"Indian nursemaid"

British families in India hired ayahs and often brought them on the voyage home; London's Ayahs' Home (at Hackney from 1900) sheltered those left stranded

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Ayah’s story begins in Portuguese: aia meant “governess, nursemaid.” Origin disputed (traditionally Latin avia 'grandmother', though some link it to a Gothic word for 'guardian'); Portuguese households in Goa, taken by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1510, gave the word to local nursemaids. It reached English by 1780s as ayah. British families in India hired ayahs and often brought them on the voyage home; London's Ayahs' Home (at Hackney from 1900) sheltered those left stranded. Today, ayah means a nursemaid or maid in South Asia.