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Valet and Varlet are terms for male servants.
Etymology In English, valet "personal man-servant" is recorded since 1567, derived from the French valet (the t being silent), an Old French variant of vaslet "man's servant," originally "squire, young man," from Gallo-Romance The modern use is usually short for the valet de chambre (French for 'chamber valet') described in the following section. Domestic valet A valet or gentleman's gentleman is a gentleman's male servant. The valet performs personal services such as maintaining his employer's clothes, running his bath and perhaps (especially in the past) shaving his employer. In a great house the master of the house had his own valet, in the grandest the same would go for other adult members of the employing family (e.g. master's sons), at a court even minor princes and high officials may be assigned one, but in a smaller household the butler (the majordomo in charge of the household staff) might have to double as his employer's valet. In a bachelor's household the valet might perform light housekeeping duties as well. Valets, like butlers and most specialized domestic staff, have become relatively rare, and a more common — though still infrequent — arrangement is the general servant performing combined roles. Traditionally a valet did much more than merely lay out clothes and take care of personal items. He was also responsible for making travel arrangements, dealing with any bills and handling all money matters concerning his master or his master's household. Famous fictional valets See also, List of fictional butlers Other valets Valet is also used for people performing specific services: Valet can also be an object: Other forms of valet-like personnel include: In playing cards, "Valet" is another name for a Jack. Varlet While in French this word remained restricted to the feudal use for a (knight's) squire, in modern English it came to be used for the various other male servants originally called va(r)let other then the gentleman's gentleman, when in livery usually called lackey, such as the valet de pied ('foot varlet', compare footman) . In archaic English, varlet also could mean an unprincipled person; a rogue. Sources (incomplete) See also | ||||||||
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