A houseboy (alternatively spelled as houseboi) is a term which refers to a typically male domestic worker or personal assistant who performs cleaning and other forms of personal chores. The term has a record of being used in the British Empire, military slang, and the male LGBT community.
United Kingdom
Historically, houseboy was a term used in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for a male domestic servant. He was usually, but not always, a native person who worked for a British family living in the non-British regions of the empire. A female housecleaner was termed a housegirl. Both sexes often wore uniform, due to their status as domestic servants.
Military slang
Houseboy was also used as an American slang term originating in the Second World War for a young teenager who helped American soldiers perform basic responsibilities like cleaning, laundry, ironing, shoe-shining, running errands, etc. The British English term for this occupation was 'Batman'.
Gay culture
A houseboy, as used by members of the LGBT community, refers to a young man who performs domestic work, where the employment normally has an erotic, though not necessarily sexual, aspect.
See also
- Housekeeper
- Fagging
- wikt:Garçon, the French word for "boy", also used as an occupational title
- House officer, previously "houseman", various grades of doctor in British hospitals
- House slave, as opposed to field slaves, during the period of slavery in the United States
