Lacquey
/ˈlæk.i/noun
A male servant or footman; now chiefly a historical or literary term.
Did you know?In English, *lacquey* came to mean a servant or footman, and its path runs through French and Italian back to a likely Arabic source linked to a paid follower or attendant, showing how courtly power traveled in the vocabulary of service.
Etymological Timeline
14th Century
French
laquais
“a footman or male servant”
15th Century
English
lacquey
“a servant, attendant, or footman”
Earlier Middle Ages
Italian
lacchè
“a servant or lackey”
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
laqāʾiʿ?
“uncertain intermediate form sometimes proposed in older sources, but not securely established”
Modern English
English
lackey
“a servile follower or attendant”