servants
Butlers and maids
Servants are people employed to perform domestic duties in a household—cooking, cleaning, attending to the needs of others.
The term carries connotations of class hierarchy and is now largely replaced by more specific titles: housekeeper, nanny, butler.
In older or religious usage, servant suggests devotion or service: a servant of God, public servants.
The word often implies subordination: He treated his staff like servants.
Chief domestic servant
- maidHousehold cleaning worker
- housekeeperDomestic cleaning professional
- valetPersonal servant or parker
- cookHeat food for eating
footman · chauffeur · gardener · nanny · governess · housemaid · steward · cleaner
Personal servant or parker
- pageNoble's young assistant
- squireKnight's noble assistant
- equerryRoyal household's horse attendant
- aideSupporting staff member
batman · usher · escort · retainer · lackey · lady-in-waiting · handmaiden · cupbearer
Identifying uniform or colors
- quartersAssigned living accommodations
- downstairsOn a lower floor
- below stairsServant domain of house
- staffOrganization's workers collectively
help · waiting staff · indentured · serf · peasant · working class
Person of lower rank
- assistantOne who aids another
- deputyAuthorized substitute or assistant
- apprenticeLearner bound to employer
- internSupervised workplace learner
protege · acolyte · minion · vassal · factotum · flunky · hireling · liegeman
Motivated by obligation
- compliantYielding to others' wishes
- deferentialShowing humble submission
- submissiveReadily yielding to control
- docileEasily controlled or taught
meek · biddable · respectful · obliging · attentive · yielding · humble · acquiescent
butler
Chief domestic servant
- maidHousehold cleaning worker
- housekeeperDomestic cleaning professional
- valetPersonal servant or parker
cook · footman · chauffeur · gardener · nanny · governess · housemaid · steward · cleaner · laundress
valet
Personal servant or parker
aide · batman · usher · escort · retainer · lackey · lady-in-waiting · handmaiden · cupbearer · footman
livery
Identifying uniform or colors
- quartersAssigned living accommodations
- downstairsOn a lower floor
- below stairsServant domain of house
staff · help · waiting staff · indentured · serf · peasant · working class
underling
Person of lower rank
- assistantOne who aids another
- deputyAuthorized substitute or assistant
- apprenticeLearner bound to employer
intern · protege · acolyte · minion · vassal · factotum · flunky · hireling · liegeman · retainer
dutiful
Motivated by obligation
- compliantYielding to others' wishes
- deferentialShowing humble submission
- submissiveReadily yielding to control
docile · meek · biddable · respectful · obliging · attentive · yielding · humble · acquiescent · unquestioning
faithful
Consistently loyal and true
- devotedLoyally and lovingly attached
- steadfastFirmly loyal, unshakeable
- trustworthyWorthy of confidence
dedicated · reliable · dependable · true · dutiful · staunch · trusted · discreet · honorable · committed
toil
Strenuous, prolonged effort
- drudgeryHard, boring work
- manual laborWork done bodily
- houseworkDomestic cleaning duties
chores · duties · waiting · scrubbing · polishing · fetching · tending · errands · backbreaking · workhorse
- Middle AgesMiddle Ages, medieval period, castles, knights, Dark Ages
- Victorian eraparlour, Victorian etiquette, etiquette, parlor games, courtship
- Victorianaseances, Dickens, spiritualism, Sherlock Holmes, phrenology
- high societygossip, socialites, socialite, aristocrats, aristocrat
- Medieval Banquetfeast, toast, goblet, chalice, mead
- opulenceluxury, wealth, affluence, extravagance, opulence
servantsmasters
Those with dominion
employers · mistresses · lords · bosses · owners
servantsaristocrats
Hereditary ruling class
nobility · elites · gentry · ruling class · upper class
- civil servantGovernment administration employee
- public servantGovernment worker serving citizens
- indentured servantContract-bound unpaid laborer
- servants' quartersHousing for domestic employees
- loyal servantTrustworthy person in service
- domestic servantsPaid home workers
servant, manservant, maidservant, civil servant, public servant, menservants, bondservant