Plural of bonne, a French nursemaid or housekeeper employed in English households during the 18th and 19th centuries.
From French 'bonne' (feminine of bon, meaning 'good'), the term originally referred to a good or capable woman, eventually becoming the specific term for a live-in female servant or nanny in French and English contexts.
During the Victorian era, having a French bonne was a status symbol for wealthy English families—it showed you could afford continental tastes and proved your cosmopolitan status in society.
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