valet

[va-ley, val-it, val-ey] /væˈleɪ, ˈvæl ɪt, ˈvæl eɪ/
noun
1.
a male servant who attends to the personal needs of his employer, as by taking care of clothing or the like; manservant.
2.
a man who is employed for cleaning and pressing, laundering, and similar services for patrons of a hotel, passengers on a ship, etc.
3.
an attendant who parks cars for patrons at a hotel, restaurant, etc.
4.
a stand or rack for holding coats, hats, etc.
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), valeted, valeting.
5.
to serve as a valet.
Origin
1560-70; < French; Middle French va(s)let squire, equivalent to vas- (< Medieval Latin vassus servant) + -let -let; see vassal
Related forms
valetless, adjective
unvaleted, adjective
Can be confused
valet, valid.
Examples from the web for valet
  • To get the benefit, valet your car and show your membership card to the attendant.
  • Expensive cars pull up to be parked by valet service.
  • The parking at the hotel can be valet or self parking.
  • Have the groom saddle the ponies and tell the valet to chill the champagne.
  • Sure, there was valet parking, movie stars and plenty of over-the-shoulder gazing.
  • Well, you don't have to, but proper etiquette says you should slip a few dollar bills to the parking valet or bellhop.
  • The university will also offer valet bike parking to encourage fans to bike to games.
  • Did a nifty little thing with the car this time valet parking.
  • In former days he had a valet, but when he was without funds the valet left him and he never had another one.
  • At length he stands up and is zipped into his formal clothes by his valet.
British Dictionary definitions for valet

valet

/ˈvælɪt; ˈvæleɪ/
noun
1.
a manservant who acts as personal attendant to his employer, looking after his clothing, serving his meals, etc French name valet de chambre
2.
a manservant who attends to the requirements of patrons in a hotel, passengers on board ship, etc; steward
verb -ets, -eting, -eted
3.
to act as a valet for (a person)
4.
(transitive) to clean the bodywork and interior of (a car) as a professional service
Word Origin
C16: from Old French vaslet page, from Medieval Latin vassus servant; see vassal
Word Origin and History for valet
n.

"personal man-servant," mid-14c., from Old French valet, variant of vaslet "man's servant," originally "squire, young man," from Gallo-Romance *vassellittus "young nobleman, squire, page," diminutive of Medieval Latin vassallus, from vassus "servant" (see vassal). Modern sense is usually short for valet de chambre; the general sense of "male household servant of the meaner sort" going with the variant form varlet. First recorded use of valet parking is from 1960.