skivvy
UK[ˈskɪvi]US[ˈskɪvi]
n
A low-ranking female domestic servant, especially one who does menial work.
n
(Chiefly British) A man's casual undershirt or T-shirt.
Etymology
The origin of 'skivvy' is obscure but likely emerged from British military or naval slang in the early 1900s. It is plausibly a clipped and altered form of 'slavey', a colloquial term for a maid-of-all-work, which itself derives from 'slave'. An alternative theory connects it to the French word 'esclave' (slave), hinting at the menial, servile nature of the work. The semantic extension to refer to an undershirt, recorded from the mid-20th century, likely stems from the garment's association with basic, utilitarian wear for manual labor or as standard-issue military clothing, thus metaphorically linking the humble garment to the low-status worker.
Analysis
The word 'skivvy' is a simplex word. It is an early 20th-century term of unknown origin, though it may be an alteration of the earlier slang term 'skiv' or related to the French 'esclave' meaning 'slave'.
Examples
In the early 20th century, a skivvy would work from dawn till dusk doing laundry and scrubbing floors.
He threw on a plain white skivvy under his flannel shirt.
The family could no longer afford to keep a skivvy after the war.