noun Informal. a capable, efficient housewife, especially a traditional Jewish one, devoted to maintaining a well-run home.
Origin:
< Yiddish bal(e)boste, bal(e)buste proprietress, housekeeper, housewife, equivalent to bal(e)bos, bal(e)bus proprietor, owner, master (compare Hebrew baʿal habayth master of the house) + -te feminine noun suffix (compare Aramaic -ta, equivalent to -t feminine suffix + -a definite article)