manservant

manservant — noun

1. a man who is paid to live and work in a wealthy person's home, taking care of pe

1.nounB2
Definition

a man who is paid to live and work in a wealthy person's home, taking care of personal jobs such as cooking meals, cleaning clothes, and helping the person get ready during the day

Example

The elderly duke relied on his manservant to help him dress and shave each morning.

collocation: rely on + possessive + manservant for daily care

A wealthy widow's manservant served afternoon tea to her guests in the drawing room.

pattern: possessive + manservant + verb of domestic service

Common collocations
  • personal manservant
  • trusted manservant
  • faithful manservant
  • employ a manservant
  • keep a manservant
  • act as a manservant
  • a manservant to someone
Synonyms
  • servant

    a broader term for any paid household worker, male or female

  • valet

    a manservant whose main job is caring for a man's clothes and helping him dress

  • butler

    the chief male servant who manages the household, rather than attending to one person

  • footman

    a junior male servant who opens doors, carries trays, and runs errands

Antonyms
  • maid

    a female servant in a household

  • maidservant

    the female equivalent of a manservant

Grammar Patterns

possessive + manservant

number + manservant

Usage Note

This word sounds old-fashioned today and is most often found in stories set in the past or in historical nonfiction. In modern English, 'personal assistant' or 'caretaker' are more common equivalents depending on the duties involved.

Common Mistakes

The wealthy family had three manservants working for them.
The wealthy family had three menservants working for them.
The plural of 'manservant' is 'menservants' because both parts of the compound become plural (like 'man' → 'men').
The hotel hired a manservant to clean the rooms.
The hotel hired a male cleaner to clean the rooms.
'Manservant' refers to a personal attendant in a private household, not an employee of a business or hotel.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All of these words describe someone who works in a private household, but they differ in duties and rank. A servant is the broadest term — it covers any paid household worker regardless of gender or specific role. A manservant is a male servant whose job is attending to his employer's personal needs: helping with dressing, meals, and daily routines. A valet (sometimes called a gentleman's gentleman) is a more specialised type of manservant who focuses on clothing, grooming, and personal appearance — a valet might press a suit and polish shoes, while a general manservant might also cook and clean. A butler, by contrast, manages the entire household staff and oversees dining, wine, and formal entertaining; a butler does not usually serve one person. A footman is a junior male servant who performs physical tasks such as carrying trays, answering the door, and delivering messages. For example, a butler might tell a footman to bring tea to the drawing room, while the valet stays upstairs to help his master change for the evening.

servant ↗valetbutler ↗footman

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • personal attendant
  • man's personal servant
  • live-in servant

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishOld FrenchLatinEnglish

Manservant is a compound word formed from 'man' (an adult male) and 'servant' (someone who works for another). The word 'man' comes from Old English 'mann'. The word 'servant' comes from Old French 'servant', which goes back to Latin 'servire' meaning 'to serve'. The compound 'manservant' has been used in English since around the 1400s.