Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Seneschal"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Seneschal \Sen"es*chal\, n. [OF. seneschal, LL. seniscalcus, of
Teutonic origin; cf. Goth. sineigs old, skalks, OHG. scalch,
AS. scealc. Cf. {Senior}, {Marshal}.]
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
seneschal
n : the chief steward or butler of a great household [syn: {major-domo}]
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