Quick Definition
a female lave maidservant, maid
Strong's Definition
a girl, i.e. (specially), a female slave or servant
Derivation: feminine diminutive of G3816 (παῖς);
KJV Usage: bondmaid(-woman), damsel, maid(-en)
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
παιδίσκη, παιδίσκης, ἡ (feminine of παιδίσκος, a young boy or slave; a diminutive of παῖς, see νεανίσκος);
1. a young girl, damsel (Xenophon, Menander, Polybius, Plutarch, Lucian; the Sept. Rth_4:12).
2. a maid-servant, a young female slave; cf. German Mädchen (our maid) for a young female-servant (Herodotus 1, 93; Lysias, Demosthenes, others): Luk_12:45; Act_16:16; opposed to ἡ ἐλευθέρα, Galatians 4:22 f, 30 f; specifically, of the maid-servant who had charge of the door: Mat_26:69; Mar_14:66; Mar_14:69; Luk_22:56; Act_12:13; ἡ παιδίσκη ἡ θυρωρός, Joh_18:17; (also in the Sept. of a female slave, often for ΰΘξΘδ, ωΔΡτΐηΘδ). Cf. Lob. ad Phryn., p. 239. (Synonym: see παῖς, at the end.)
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
παιδίσκη paidiskē 13x
a girl, damsel, maiden; a female slave or servant, Mat_26:69 ; Mar_14:66 ; Mar_14:69 girl; servant girl.
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
παιδίσκη , -ης , ἡ ,
dimin, of παῖς ,
[in LXX for H8198 , H519 , etc.;]
1. a young girl, a maiden ( H5291 , Rth_4:12 ).
2. Colloq., a young female slave, a maid-servant ( v. Kennedy , Sources , 40 f .; Deiss., LAE , 186, 332.2): Mat_26:69 , Mar_14:66 ; Mar_14:69 , Luk_12:45 ; Luk_22:56 , Joh_18:17 , Act_12:13 ; Act_16:16 ; of Hagar, Gal_4:22-23 ; Gal_4:30 ( LXX ); id ., metaph ., Gal_4:31 .†
SYN.: see παῖς G3816 .
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
παιδίσκη [page 474]
παιδίσκη from meaning originally a young woman came in later Greek to denote a female slave : see Rutherford NP , p. 312 f., Kennedy, Sources , p. 40 f. Exx. of this meaning, as in LXX and NT, are PSI IV. 406 .25 (iii/B.C.) Δριμύλος παιδίσκην ἠγόραζεν (δραχμὰς ) τ̄ , P Giss I. 2 i. 13 (B.C. 173) παιδίσκην δο [ύλην αὐτῆς ] ἧι ὄνομα Στολίς , P Grenf I. 43 .3 (ii/B.C.) Ἀ ]φροδισία καὶ ἡ θυγάτηρ καὶ ἡ παιδίσκη , BGU I. 95 .19 (ii/A.D.) ὑπάρχι δὲ τ [ῇ θυγατρὶ ] παιδίσκη δούλη Τασου [χάρ ]ιον , and the illiterate P Oxy VII. 1069 .19 (iii/A.D.) τὴν πεδείσκην μου δὲ πρὸ λόγον ἀνάγκασον φειλοπονεῖστε (= φιλοπονεῖσθαι ), make my slave-girl be properly industrious (Ed.). Other reff. in Rostovtzeff, Large Estate . p, 115 f. In PSI VI. 667 (iii/B.C.) a παιδίσκη writes to her employer that she is tired of dragging wood (κεκ̣[μηκυῖ ?]α ξυλοφοροῦσα̣), but does not wish to go on strike (οὐ θέλουσα ἀναχωρῆσαι ). On the honoured place which female slaves frequently occupied in the family see Wilcken Ostr. i. p. 686, and cf. Milligan Here and There , p. 981.
The masc. ὁ παιδίσκος is not found in the Ptolemaic papyri, but see P Strass I. 56 .28 (ii/iii A.D.).
Liddell-Scott — Intermediate Greek Lexicon
παιδίσκη παιδίσκη, ἡ, [Etym: Dim. of παῖς] [Etym: h] "a young girl, maiden", Xen. "a young slave, courtesan", Hdt. , Plut.
STEPBible — Tyndale Abridged Greek Lexicon
παιδίσκη, -ης, ἡ dimin, of παῖς,
[in LXX for שִׁפְחָה, אָמָה, etc. ;]
__1. a young girl, a maiden (נַעֲרָה, Rut.4:12).
__2. Colloq., a young female slave, a maid-servant (see Kennedy, Sources, 40 f.; Deiss., LAE, 186, 332.2): Mat.26:69, Mrk.14:66, 69, Luk.12:45 22:56, Jhn.18:17, Act.12:13 16:16; of Hagar, Gal.4:22-23, 30" (LXX) ; id., metaphorically, Gal.4:31.†
SYN.: see: παῖς (AS)