housemaid vs handmaiden

housemaid and handmaiden both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
housemaid	Yes	No	No	No
handmaiden	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, handmaiden is a hyponym of housemaid; that is, handmaiden is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than housemaid:

Other hyponyms of housemaid include chambermaid, fille de chambre, handmaid, lady's maid, parlormaid, parlourmaid.

housemaid (noun)	handmaiden (noun)
a female domestic	a personal maid or female attendant
	in a subordinate position