Maid known to represent the ladies in general (9)

I believe the answer is:

womankind

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'ladies in general' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

'maid known to represent' is the wordplay.
'to represent' is an anagram indicator.
'maid'+'known'='maidknown'
'maidknown' with letters rearranged gives 'WOMANKIND'.

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for womankind that I've seen before include "The female sex" , "all females" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish News.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.