/ˈvæleɪ/, /ˈvælɪt/, /ˈvæleɪ/
OriginBorrowed from Middle French valet, from Old French vaslet, from Medieval Latin *vassellittus, diminutive of Late Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish *wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Irish foss and Welsh gwas). Doublet of varlet.
- A man's personal male attendant, responsible for his clothes and appearance.
- A hotel employee performing such duties for guests.
- A female performer in professional wrestling, acting as either a manager or personal chaperone; often used to attract and titillate male members of the audience.
- A female chaperone who accompanies a man, and is usually not married to him.
- USA person employed to clean or park cars.
“A HEROIC dad who helped deliver his new-born baby in the back of his car had to explain to his car valet that he wasn't involved in illegal crime.”
- A person employed to assist the jockey and trainer at a racecourse.
- A wooden stand on which to hold clothes and accessories in preparation for dressing.
- A kind of goad or stick with an iron point.
- transitiveTo serve (someone) as a valet.
“You can valet me, can you? Bother valeting me! I like to put on my own clothes, and brush them, too, when they are on; and if I only knew how to black my own boots, by George I should like to do it!”
“[…] the red-haired boy who had valeted me in the morning appeared in a plain suit of black.”
- Ireland, UK, transitiveTo clean and service (a car), as a valet does.
“He revealed: “We had been through a lot and I decided the car needed to be cleaned out after Georgina had to deliver the baby in the car.
“You can imagine the scene when I left the car in for valeting”
- US, transitiveTo leave (a car) with a valet to park it.
“I asked Giacomo if he ever valeted his car, and he twisted his face into a grimace as he replied, “Rarely, but I have done it. Nervous time.””
““‘Is this a date?’” Ms. Ludbrook recalled thinking during dinner. “I had valeted my car, and he hadn’t. He said, ‘Bye,’ and went to his car. Clearly this was not a date.””
Formsvalets(plural) · valets(present, singular, third-person) · valeting(participle, present) · valeted(participle, past) · valeted(past)