'bondmaid' is a compound formed in modern English from 'bond' + 'maid', where 'bond' meant a person bound to service and 'maid' meant a young woman or female servant.

'bond' derives from Old Norse 'bóndi' (related to peasant/householder) and Old English developments of 'bondman'/'bondwoman' led to compounds like Middle English 'bondmayd'/'bondmaide', which eventually became modern English 'bondmaid'. 'Maid' comes from Old English 'mægden' meaning young woman.

Initially it denoted a woman bound to servitude or service to a lord (a bonded female dependent); over time the term became archaic and in some contexts simply referred to a female domestic servant rather than a legally bound serf.