Definition

1. Verb:
   • To serve (a family) for wages: To work as a domestic servant or live-in employee for a household in exchange for payment.
   • To be hired as a domestic servant: To be employed by a family to perform household duties while typically residing at the employer's home.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Cô ấy từng ở mướn cho một gia đình giàu có ở thành phố. (She used to serve for wages for a wealthy family in the city.)
  • Trước đây, nhiều phụ nữ nông thôn ra thành phố để ở mướn. (In the past, many rural women went to the city to work as live-in domestic servants.)
  • Công việc ở mướn thường bao gồm nấu ăn, dọn dẹp và chăm sóc trẻ. (The work of serving a family for wages often includes cooking, cleaning, and childcare.)

Advanced Usage

• This term describes a specific historical and socio-economic arrangement, often involving long-term residence and a wide range of domestic duties. It implies a formal or informal employment relationship within a private home.

Variants and Related Words

• Làm thuê / Làm mướn (v): To work for hire; to do hired labor. (This is a more general term for any hired work, not specifically domestic service within a home.)
• Người giúp việc nhà / Người ở (n): Housemaid; domestic helper; live-in servant. (These are the nouns for the person performing the work.)
• Thuê người giúp việc (v): To hire a domestic helper.

Synonyms

• To work as a live-in domestic servant: Làm người giúp việc sống trong nhà.
• To be in domestic service: Làm công việc phục vụ trong gia đình.

Related Phrases

• Ở đợ: An older, nearly synonymous term for working as a domestic servant, often carrying a similar connotation of living at the employer's home.
• Ở mướn làm thuê: A reinforced phrase emphasizing the hired labor aspect of the work.

1. Serve (a family) for wages