varlet
Americannoun
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a knavish person; rascal.
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an attendant or servant.
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a page who serves a knight.
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noun
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a menial servant
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a knight's page
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a rascal
Etymology
Origin of varlet
1425–75; late Middle English < Middle French; variant of valet
Explanation
In medieval times, when a man was training to be a knight, a varlet, or special servant, would assist him. In paintings of young knights, there is often a trusty varlet at his side. If you heard someone say, "Varlet! Bring me my hauberk!" you could be sure you'd either traveled back in time to the Middle Ages or were at a Renaissance Fair. A varlet was similar to a squire, a servant and sidekick who could be relied on for help when a knight was just starting out. Later, varlet came to have the additional meaning of "rascal or rogue," possibly influenced by Shakespeare, who frequently used it as an insult.
Vocabulary lists containing varlet
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The era of lake naming and varlet thrashing in the upper reaches of the Nile has been written about extensively, mostly in biographies or autobiographies of such heroes as Livingstone.
From Time Magazine Archive
Hanff is given to saying things like "thou varlet," but except for the fact that she is single, Roose-Evans tells almost nothing about her, far less than he reveals about her friends in England.
From Time Magazine Archive
The artists of the period, though rarely achieving a title more illustrious than varlet de chambre, were only too happy to oblige.
From Time Magazine Archive
The Bruges-Detroit show starts with Jan van Eyck, who was court painter and varlet de chambre to Philip the Good, and did as much as any man to change the history of painting.
From Time Magazine Archive
A falconer like Edgar’s father was better paid and of higher social status than a groom or varlet.
From "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village" by Laura Amy Schlitz
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
