Hypertext Webster Gateway: "butler"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Butler
properly a servant in charge of the wine (Gen. 40:1-13; 41:9).
The Hebrew word, _mashkeh_, thus translated is rendered also
(plural) "cup-bearers" (1 Kings 10:5; 2 Chr. 9:4). Nehemiah
(1:11) was cup-bearer to king Artaxerxes. It was a position of
great responsibility and honour in royal households.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Butler \But"ler\, n. [OE. boteler, F. bouteillier a
bottle-bearer, a cupbearer, fr. LL. buticularius, fr.
buticula bottle. See {Bottle} a hollow vessel.]
An officer in a king's or a nobleman's household, whose
principal business it is to take charge of the liquors,
plate, etc.; the head servant in a large house.
The butler and the baker of the king of Egypt. --Gen.
xl. 5.
Your wine locked up, your butler strolled abroad.
--Pope.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
butler
n : a manservant (usually the head servant of a household) who
has charge of wines and the table [syn: {pantryman}]
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