au pairv.
/ˌəʊ ˈpɛː/, U.S. /ˌoʊ ˈpɛ(ə)r/ 1. intransitive. To work as an au pair (for someone). Also transitive with it in same sense.
ΚΠ
1959 R. Heppenstall in 20th Cent. Oct. 294 Two hundred miles away..lies Paris, where my daughter has been au pair-ing it since early July.
1961 Irish Times 13 Sept. 12/6 (advt.) Spanish family, living in Canary Islands, require Irish girl, 24–30, to au pair for 1–2 years.
1963 R. Heppenstall Intellect. Part xxv. 179 My children were there a good deal, my daughter for three months, au pair-ing it with an American family in Paris.
1987 Good Housek. (U.K. ed.) Nov. 218/3 My mother au pairs for us. She does the ironing and puts casseroles into the freezer.
2006 D. Long Inhabited World (2007) 168 She'd dropped out of college to au pair for an American family on sabbatical in Brittany.
2. transitive. To act as an au pair for (a person or family).
ΚΠ
2001 Observer 18 Feb. (Escape section) 2/2 It was the mother of the boy I'd au-paired two years previously.
2016 www.aupair.com 6 Oct. (O.E.D. Archive) The first family I au paired was a family in Oxfordshire.
Derivatives
au ˈpairing n.
ΚΠ
1966 Irish Times 10 Dec. 10/7 When last I heard from you, you'd had enough of au pairing in London.
1993 Independent on Sunday 4 Apr. (Business section) 25/5 Traditional student time-fillers such as grape-picking and au pairing.
2007 R. Lister et al. Gendering Citizenship in Western Europe v. 157 None of them said they saw au pairing as a good way to make money—quite the opposite.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
au pairadv.n.adj.
/ˌəʊ ˈpɛː/, U.S. /ˌoʊ ˈpɛ(ə)r/ Originally British.
A. adv.
Originally, with reference to working arrangements between two parties: on the basis that work done by one party is rewarded entirely or largely by provision of benefits in kind, rather than by payment of money. Now chiefly spec. with reference to an arrangement whereby a person carries out domestic work (usually housework or childcare) in a particular household in exchange for board and lodging and (in later use) some pocket money. In early use occasionally more generally: (entirely or largely) on the basis of reciprocal provision of services.
ΚΠ
1844 W. M. Thackeray Let. 24 Jan. (1945) II. 159 You will get my 2 months' correspondence by the time I get my 2 months pay & we can then go on au pair.
1860 Times 29 Aug. 2/5 (advt.) An English Catholic young lady wanted, as a teacher au-pair in a Catholic school, in return for lessons in French.
1880 Standard 15 Jan. 8/5 (advt.) Wanted, a German Governess; eldest pupil twelve; 50l.; French Governess, au pair.
1907 Amer. Reg. 27 Apr. (London ed.) 8/4 (advt.) A lady student in dentistry wishes to pass her holidays ‘au pair’ in a surgeon dentist's family in London.
1958 Economist 29 Mar. 1113/1 Several thousand girls now come over from the continent to live for six months au pair with British families to learn English—and to perform ‘light domestic duties’.
1966 H. Davies New London Spy (1967) 253 Holidays abroad are extremely popular, and many girls give up their jobs to travel au pair or to go hitch-hiking.
1996 M. John Children in Charge 266 She is..working as a waitress and saving up to go to America to work au pair.
B. n.
1. An au pair working arrangement (see sense C.). Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > domestic servant > [noun] > au pair > arrangement for
au pair1888
1888 Morning Post 23 Apr. 7/6 (advt.) A North German Lady..requires a re-engagement as resident or daily; would accept au pair for a few hours.
1932 Times 27 Oct. 3/5 (advt.) Lady seeks ‘au pair’, preferably London, for young German friend staying at her country house.
1968 Times 2 Apr. 15/5 (advt.) French young man..seeks job July, August, September; would accept au pair.
2. A person, most commonly a young woman from another country, who carries out domestic work (usually housework or childcare) in a particular household in exchange for board and lodging, generally with some pocket money.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > servant > personal or domestic servant > domestic servant > [noun] > au pair
au pair1934
1934 Times 10 Mar. 2/7 (advt.) Wanted, educated young English lady..as Au Pair for Bremen family (three children).
1960 Oxf. Times 1 Jan. 2/2 Au pair to help with young children.
1992 Daily Tel. 6 Jan. 7/3 Mr Kristinsson..worked with handicapped children in Reykjavik before he became an au pair.
2006 Working Mother Oct. 10/3 We have hosted au pairs in our home for 11 years and have learned about different cultures and ways of life and in turn have enjoyed flexible live-in care for our daughter.
C. adj.
Designating a working arrangement between two parties in which work done by one party is rewarded entirely or largely by provision of benefits in kind, rather than by payment of money; esp. designating an arrangement in which a person, most commonly a young woman from another country, carries out domestic work (usually housework or childcare) in a particular household in exchange for board and lodging, generally with some pocket money; of, relating to, or operating in accordance with such an arrangement. au pair girl n. a female au pair (sense B. 2).
ΚΠ
1911 Standard 6 Feb. 5/5 Failing the necessary income, she is glad to avail herself for [sic] the chance of an au pair visitor.
1912 Standard 19 Apr. 11/2 Most of the ‘au pair’ girls coming to Switzerland belong to well-to-do parents of the commercial classes.
1927 Times 12 Sept. 3/4 (advt.) Swiss girls requiring salaried or ‘au pair’ posts as helps, governesses, &c., should apply to [etc.].
1962 Times 22 May 13 An agency for placing au pair girls.
1981 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 5 Aug. c3/1 [She] has had several au pair arrangements since she came here from Santa Barbara, Calif., last September.
1997 E. White Farewell Symphony (1998) iv. 157 He told me in his halting Italian of his disappointment as an au pair boy in the industrial wasteland of New Jersey.
2011 T. Iommi & T. J. Lammers Iron Man xxix. 107 We all lived together there, the band, Meehan and these two French au pair girls who came with the house.
Compounds
General attributive.Sometimes difficult to distinguish from uses of the adjective.
ΚΠ
1966 Times 19 July 2/5 (advt.) Woman experienced in running Au Pair Agency London, full or part time post offered.
1992 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 20 Feb. c6/1 In the way that the family room or den was the style of the 1960's and 1970's and the home office defined the 1980's, these so-called au-pair suites seem to be evolving as a hallmark of today's ideal family house.
2016 Washington Post (Nexis) 22 May c1 The au pair agency that helped bring her to the United States isn't extending her visa for a second year.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
v.1959
adv.n.adj.1844