A nursemaid is a woman employed to take care of young children in a household. Before daycare centers were common, wealthy families often hired nursemaids to feed, dress, play with, and supervise their children while parents worked or managed other responsibilities. The nursemaid might rock a fussy baby to sleep, teach a toddler to tie shoes, or keep siblings from fighting while their mother was busy.

Unlike a nanny today, who might drive children to activities and help with homework, a traditional nursemaid focused mainly on the physical care of very young children: changing diapers, preparing bottles, and keeping little ones safe and happy.

You might encounter nursemaids in historical novels set in Victorian England or early American households. In Mary Poppins, for instance, the Banks family needs someone to care for Jane and Michael, a role similar to what a nursemaid would have filled.

The word also appears in the phrase nursemaid someone, meaning to watch over someone too carefully, treating them like a helpless child when they're perfectly capable. If your older sister follows you around the playground “to make sure you're okay” when you're fine on your own, you might feel like she's nursemaiding you.