valet
[ va-ley, val-it, val-ey ]
/ væˈleɪ, ˈvæl ɪt, ˈvæl eɪ /
noun
a male servant who attends to the personal needs of his male employer, as by taking care of clothing or the like; manservant.
a man who is employed for cleaning and pressing, laundering, and similar services for patrons of a hotel, passengers on a ship, etc.
an attendant who parks cars for patrons at a hotel, restaurant, etc.
a stand or rack for holding coats, hats, etc.
verb (used with or without object), val·et·ed, val·et·ing.
to serve as a valet.
Nearby words
Origin of valet
Related formsval·et·less, adjectiveun·val·et·ed, adjective
Can be confusedvalet valid
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for valet
British Dictionary definitions for valet
valet
/ (ˈvælɪt, ˈvæleɪ) /
noun
a manservant who acts as personal attendant to his employer, looking after his clothing, serving his meals, etcFrench name: valet de chambre
a manservant who attends to the requirements of patrons in a hotel, passengers on board ship, etc; steward
verb -ets, -eting or -eted
to act as a valet for (a person)
(tr) to clean the bodywork and interior of (a car) as a professional service
Word Origin for valet
C16: from Old French vaslet page, from Medieval Latin vassus servant; see vassal
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for valet
valet
"personal man-servant," mid-14c., from Old French valet, variant of vaslet "man's servant," originally "squire, young man," from Gallo-Romance *vassellittus "young nobleman, squire, page," diminutive of Medieval Latin vassallus, from vassus "servant" (see vassal). Modern sense is usually short for valet de chambre; the general sense of "male household servant of the meaner sort" going with the variant form varlet. First recorded use of valet parking is from 1960.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper