A woman who sweeps or cleans, especially a street sweeper; a feminine form referring to a cleaning worker.
From French 'balayeuse,' the feminine form of 'balayeur' (male sweeper), derived from 'balayer' (to sweep). The word comes from Old French 'balai' (broom), itself of uncertain origin but possibly related to Germanic roots.
French has different masculine and feminine forms for occupations, so 'balayeur' and 'balayeuse' actually represent different people—a linguistic reminder that many languages treat gender grammatically very differently from English!
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