butler

butler — noun

1. a senior male staff member in a wealthy household whose job is to greet visitors

1.nounC1
Definition

a senior male staff member in a wealthy household whose job is to greet visitors, supervise the other domestic workers, and make sure that meals and drinks are properly served.

Example

The Carlisle family's butler greeted every guest at the front door with a small bow.

typical role: greeting guests at the door

Mr. Hadley had served as the duke's butler for nearly forty years.

collocation: serve as someone's butler

Common collocations
  • a butler answers the door
  • the butler announces guests
  • the family butler
  • the head butler
Synonyms
  • manservant

    older, broader term for any male household servant; less senior than a butler

  • majordomo

    formal; the chief steward of a very grand household, often outranking a butler

  • valet

    a personal male servant who looks after one master's clothes and grooming, not the whole house

Antonyms
  • master

    the head of the household who employs the butler

  • mistress

    the female head of the household, the butler's employer

Grammar Patterns

a/the butler

butler + verb

Usage Note

Subject is usually wealthy, aristocratic, or fictional employers; the role mainly appears in historical, royal, or upper-class settings, so the word can sound old-fashioned or elite in everyday Taiwan-learner contexts.

Common Mistakes

My family hired a butler to clean the kitchen.
My family hired a cleaner to clean the kitchen.
a butler manages staff and serves guests; basic cleaning work is done by a cleaner or maid.
She works as a butler at a small café.
She works as a waitress at a small café.
a butler works inside a private home, not a restaurant or shop.

Word family

  • butlers
    nounC1
  • butlership
    noun
  • butler service
    noun

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe male household servants, but they sit at different points on the scale of rank and duty. A butler is the chief male servant of a large home, in charge of the front door, the dining room, and the other staff. A manservant is the most general label and simply means any male house servant, with no rank attached. A valet is a personal attendant who serves only one gentleman, looking after his clothes, shaving water, and travel arrangements; he reports to the butler in a grand house. A majordomo outranks even the butler and runs the entire estate, including the finances. So the duke's valet might press his evening jacket, while his butler greets the dinner guests, and his majordomo signs the wine merchant's invoice.

butler ↗manservant ↗valetmajordomo

Common collocations

Nouns

  • butler service
  • butler pantry
  • head butler
  • family butler

Phrases

  • the butler did it
  • ring for the butler
  • the butler announced

Prepositions

  • butler to (someone)
  • butler at (a residence)

Etymology

Late LatinOld FrenchAnglo-NormanMiddle EnglishModern English

The word came into English in the 1200s from Anglo-Norman 'buteler', meaning the servant in charge of the wine cellar. That French word goes back to Late Latin 'buticula', a small bottle, the same root that gives us 'bottle'. Originally a butler really was the wine man — only later did the role expand to running the whole household staff. The famous detective-fiction line 'the butler did it' helped fix the modern image of a quiet, dignified servant in a black coat.