valet

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French valet, from Old French vaslet, from Medieval Latin *vassellittus, diminutive of Late Latin vassallus (“manservant, domestic, retainer”), from vassus (“servant”), from Gaulish *wassos (“young man, squire”), from Proto-Celtic *wastos (“servant”) (compare Old Irish foss and Welsh gwas).

noun

1. A man's personal male attendant, responsible for his clothes and appearance.
2. A hotel employee performing such duties for guests.
3. (professional wrestling) A female performer in professional wrestling, acting as either a manager or personal chaperone; often used to attract and titillate male members of the audience.
4. A female chaperone who accompanies a man, and is usually not married to him.
5. (US) A person employed to clean or park cars.
6. A person employed to assist the jockey and trainer at a racecourse.
7. A wooden stand on which to hold clothes and accessories in preparation for dressing.
8. A kind of goad or stick with an iron point.

verb

1. (transitive) To serve (someone) as a valet.
   You can valet me, can you? Bother valeting me! I like to put on my own clothes, and brush them, too, when they are on; and if I only knew how to black my own boots, by George I should like to do it! 1866, Wilkie Collins, Armadale, London: Smith, Elder & Co., Volume I, Book 2, Chapter 2, p. 163
   […] the red-haired boy who had valeted me in the morning appeared in a plain suit of black. 1926, Neville Shute, chapter 7, in Marazan, London: Cassell
2. (transitive, chiefly UK, Ireland) To clean and service (a car), as a valet does.
   He revealed: “We had been through a lot and I decided the car needed to be cleaned out after Georgina had to deliver the baby in the car. “You can imagine the scene when I left the car in for valeting. I got some funny looks and I had to explain to the guy that I wasn’t up to anything illegal because it did look a bit like a crime scene.” 7 March 2017, Stephen Maguire, “Hero Irish dad reveals he had to tell car valet he ‘wasn’t up to anything illegal’ after wife gave birth on back seat on Donegal road”, in The Irish Sun
3. (transitive, US) To leave (a car) with a valet to park it.
   I asked Giacomo if he ever valeted his car, and he twisted his face into a grimace as he replied, “Rarely, but I have done it. Nervous time.” 30 May 2012, Jay Weston, “One of the Most Eligible Bachelors in L.A. Has 55 Ferraris.. and Takes Me for a Drive in One!”, in The Huffington Post
   “‘Is this a date?’” Ms. Ludbrook recalled thinking during dinner. “I had valeted my car, and he hadn’t. He said, ‘Bye,’ and went to his car. Clearly this was not a date.” 11 February 2017, Rosalie R. Radomsky, “Emma Ludbrook and Tom Windish: Their First Date Was a Big Production”, in The New York Times