butler

See also: Butler

English

Etymology

From Middle English butler, butlere, boteler, botelere, from Old French buttiler, butiller, boteillier (“officer in charge of wine”), from Medieval Latin botellārius, equivalent to bottle +‎ -er. Piecewise doublet of bottler.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌt.lə(ɹ)/
• (US) enPR: bŭtʹ-lər, IPA^(key): /ˈbʌt.lɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌtlə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: but‧ler

Noun

butler (plural butlers)

1. A manservant having charge of wines and liquors.
2. The chief male servant of a household who has charge of other employees, receives guests, directs the serving of meals, and performs various personal services.
   • 1929, Baldwyn Dyke Acland, chapter 2, in Filibuster:

     “One marble hall, with staircase complete, one butler and three flunkeys to receive a retired sojer who dares to ring the bell. D'you know, old boy, I gave my bowler to the butler, whangee to one flunkey, gloves to another, and there was the fourth poor blighter looking like an orphan at a Mothers' Meeting. …"

3. A valet, a male personal attendant.

Synonyms

• footman

Derived terms

• butler café
• butler cafe
• butler lie
• butler steak
• buttle (backformation)
• silent butler

 

Related terms

• butt (large cask)

Translations

manservant having charge of wines and liquors

• Arabic: كَبِير خَدَم m (kabīr ḵadam)
• Catalan: sommelier m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 管家 (zh) (guǎnjiā), 男僕／男仆 (zh) (nánpú)

• Egyptian: (wdpw)
• Finnish: sommelier (fi)
• French: sommelier (fr) m
• Galician: sumiller m
• Hindi: ख़ानसामा m (xānsāmā), ख़ानसामाँ m (xānsāmā̃)
• Italian: costituente (it) m
• Japanese: ソムリエ (somurie)
• Korean: 소믈리에 (someullie)
• Macedonian: слу́жител m (slúžitel)
• Persian: پیش‌خدمت (piš-xedmat)
• Portuguese: mordomo (pt) m
• Romanian: somelier m, chelar (ro) m, pivnicer (ro) m
• Russian: дворе́цкий (ru) m (dvoréckij)
• Spanish: sumiller (es) m or f, sommelier (es) m or f
• Urdu: خانسامان m (xānsāmān)

chief male servant

• Arabic: قَهْرَمَان m (qahramān)
• Belarusian: дварэ́цкі m (dvarécki), камерды́нер m (kamjerdýnjer), мажардо́м m (mažardóm)
• Bulgarian: иконо́м m (ikonóm)
• Catalan: majordom (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 管家 (zh) (guǎnjiā), 執事／执事 (zh) (zhíshì)

• Czech: majordomus (cs) m
• Danish: butler c
• Dutch: butler (nl) m
• Esperanto: ĉefservisto
• Finnish: hovimestari (fi)
• French: majordome (fr) m
• Galician: mordomo (gl) m
• German: Butler (de) m
• Greek: αρχιοικονόμος m (archioikonómos)
• Hebrew: רַב מְשָׁרְתִים m (rav meshartim), בֶּן מֶשֶׁק הַבַּיִת m (ben meshek habayit)
• Indonesian: pelayan (id)
• Italian: maggiordomo (it) m
• Japanese: 執事 (ja) (しつじ, shitsuji)
• Korean: 집사 (ko) (jipsa)
• Latin: prōmus m
• Macedonian: слу́жител m (slúžitel), ба́тлер m (bátler)
• Norwegian: bøtler m

  Bokmål: butler m

• Ottoman Turkish: سفره‌جی (sofracı)
• Polish: kamerdyner (pl) m
• Portuguese: mordomo (pt) m
• Romanian: majordom (ro) m
• Russian: дворе́цкий (ru) m (dvoréckij), мажордо́м (ru) m (mažordóm), камерди́нер (ru) m (kamerdíner), домоправи́тель (ru) m (domopravítelʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: buidealair m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ба̏тлер m

  Roman: bȁtler (sh) m

• Spanish: mayordomo (es)
• Swedish: betjänt (sv) c, butler (sv) c (chiefly of butlers called such in other countries)
• Ukrainian: дворе́цький m (dvorécʹkyj), камерди́нер (uk) m (kamerdýner), мажордо́м (uk) m (mažordóm)
• Vietnamese: quản gia (vi)

Verb

butler (third-person singular simple present butlers, present participle butlering, simple past and past participle butlered)

1. To buttle, to dispense wines or liquors; to take the place of a butler.

Anagrams

• turbel

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English butler.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʏt.lər/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: but‧ler

Noun

butler m (plural butlers, diminutive butlertje n)

1. A butler (chief male servant of a household; valet; booze manservant).

Swedish

Noun

butler c

1. a butler (chief male servant, personal attendant)

Usage notes

Chiefly of butlers in England. See also betjänt.

Declension

Declension of butler
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	butler	butlern	butler	butlerna
Genitive	butlers	butlerns	butlers	butlernas

References

• butler in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• butler in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• butler in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)