The Collaborative International Dictionary
Malkin \Mal"kin\, n. [Dim. of Maud, the proper name. Cf. Grimalkin.] [Written also maukin.]
Originally, a kitchenmaid; a slattern.
--Chaucer.A mop made of clouts, used by the kitchen servant.
A scarecrow. [Prov. Eng.]
(Mil.) A mop or sponge attached to a jointed staff for swabbing out a cannon.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
also mawkin, "a slattern; woman of the lower classes," late 13c., from fem. proper name Malkyn, a diminutive of Mault "Maud" (see Matilda). Also attested from c.1200 as the proper name of a female specter. Sense of "untidy woman" led to meaning "mop, bundle of rags on a stick" (used to clean ovens, artillery pieces, etc.), c.1400.\n\nMALKINTRASH. One in dismal garb.
[Grose, "Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," London, 1785]
\nAttested as the name of a cat since 1670s (perhaps earlier as Grimalkin, 16c.); compare Serbo-Croatian mačka "cat," originally a pet-name form of Maria. Also used in Scotland and northern England as the name of a hare (1724).Wiktionary
n. 1 (context now archaic regional English) A (stereotypical name for a) lower-class or uncultured woman; a kitchenmaid; a slattern. (from 13th c.) 2 (context now regional English) A mop, especially one used to clean a baker's oven. (from 15th c.) 3 (context obsolete nautical English) A mop or sponge attached to a jointed staff for swabbing out a cannon. (19th c.) 4 (context now archaic regional English) A scarecrow. (from 16th c.) 5 (context now rare English) A cat. (from 17th c.) 6 (context Scotland North England English) A hare. (from 18th c.)
Wikipedia
Malkin as a surname may refer to:
- Benjamin Heath Malkin (1769–1842), antiquary and author
- Chris Malkin (born 1967), English football player
- Evgeni Malkin (born 1986), Russian ice hockey player
- Herbert Malkin (1836–1913), English lawyer and cricketer
- John Malkin (9 November 1921 – 19 May 1994), English football player for Stoke City
- Michelle Malkin (born 1970), American political columnist
- Myron Samuel Malkin (1924–1994), director of the NASA space shuttle program
- Peter Malkin (1927–2005), Israeli secret agent
- Peter L. Malkin (born 1928), American real estate investor
- Russ Malkin, British film producer and director
- Scott D. Malkin (born 1959), American businessman
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William Harold Malkin (1868–1959), mayor of Vancouver, Canada
- Malkin Bowl, an outdoor theatre in Vancouver
Usage examples of "malkin".
In due course, the police, the ambulance, the pathologist, Dr Matthew Malkin, and Lord Sackbut himself, gathered by the lake.
Grim and Black Annis with the malkins and the rimfire and the rest, ye may have tae deal with another which visits the dark floors of Ardathe Cearb himself.
It was still a little odd that when they had landed Malkins and he had had the distinct impression that they were coming down onto a barren world without atmosphere and without life.
Before Malkin could complete the logoff sequence, he uncoiled from his spot on the windowsill, levitated across the room in a single bound and skidded to a four-point landing on the table next to the “computer.