Butler

How to spell butler

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce butler

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does butler mean?

1. nounThe chief male servant of a household, traditionally in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and other staff.

Butler in a sentence

• The butler greeted each guest at the front door of the manor.

• A discreet butler served dinner and then withdrew from the room.

Where does butler come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes from the Anglo-Norman butuiller, a variant of Old French bouteillier, meaning 'the servant in charge of the bottles', which was built on bouteille, 'bottle'. That noun traces back to the Late Latin butticula, a little cask or flask, a diminutive of buttis, 'cask'. The original butler really was the wine officer of a great household, responsible for the cellar and the serving of drink, before the role broadened to mean the chief manservant who oversees the whole domestic staff. English took the word in the 1200s, and the same buttis root still lives on in the words 'bottle' and 'butt' (a large barrel). The hidden trap for spellers is that 'butler' has nothing to do with the verb 'butt'; the single 't' and the -ler ending preserve that old bottle-keeper origin.

How the word is built

• butl- (from Old French bouteillier: bottle-keeper)
• -er (agent suffix)