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valet

[va-ley, val-it, val-ey]
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noun
  1. a male servant who attends to the personal needs of his male employer, as by taking care of clothing or the like; manservant.
  2. a man who is employed for cleaning and pressing, laundering, and similar services for patrons of a hotel, passengers on a ship, etc.
  3. an attendant who parks cars for patrons at a hotel, restaurant, etc.
  4. a stand or rack for holding coats, hats, etc.
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verb (used with or without object), val·et·ed, val·et·ing.
  1. to serve as a valet.
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Origin of valet

1560–70; < French; Middle French va(s)let squire, equivalent to vas- (< Medieval Latin vassus servant) + -let -let; see vassal
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. 2018

Examples from the Web for valeted

Historical Examples

  • I can tell a man who's been valeted as far as my eyes will reach.

    Blacksheep! Blacksheep!

    Meredith Nicholson

  • Gimp waved them off angrily, but they valeted for him, anyhow.

    The Planet Strappers

    Raymond Zinke Gallun

  • Mrs. Butterworth put him in the west room, sir, and I valeted him.

    T. Tembarom

    Frances Hodgson Burnett

  • Valeted: served; (from valet, a gentleman's private servant).

    Tom Brown at Rugby

    Thomas Hughes

  • Under his régime the hounds were valeted as they had never been before.

    All on the Irish Shore

    E. Somerville and Martin Ross

British Dictionary definitions for valeted

valet

noun
  1. a manservant who acts as personal attendant to his employer, looking after his clothing, serving his meals, etcFrench name: valet de chambre
  2. a manservant who attends to the requirements of patrons in a hotel, passengers on board ship, etc; steward
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verb -ets, -eting or -eted
  1. to act as a valet for (a person)
  2. (tr) to clean the bodywork and interior of (a car) as a professional service
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Word Origin

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for valeted

valet

n.

"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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper