SENESCHAL

seneschal, major-domo

(noun) the chief steward or butler of a great household

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

seneschal (plural seneschals)

A steward, particularly (historical) one in charge of a medieval nobleman's estate.

(historical) An officer of the crown in late medieval and early modern France who served as a kind of governor and chief justice of the royal court in Normandy and Languedoc.

Synonyms

• (steward): See steward

Source: Wiktionary

Sen"es*chal, n. Etym: [OF. seneschal, LL. seniscalcus, of Teutonic origin; cf. Goth. sineigs old, skalks, OHG. scalch, AS. scealc. Cf. Senior, Marshal.]

Definition: An officer in the houses of princes and dignitaries, in the Middle Ages, who had the superintendence of feasts and domestic ceremonies; a steward. Sometimes the seneschal had the dispensing of justice, and was given high military commands. Then marshaled feast Served up in hall with sewers and seneschale. Milton. Philip Augustus, by a famous ordinance in 1190, first established royal courts of justice, held by the officers called baitiffs, or seneschals, who acted as the king's lieutenants in his demains. Hallam.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition