valet

noun va·let \ ˈva-lət , ˈva-(ˌ)lā , va-ˈlā \

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of valet

1 a : an employee (as of a hotel or a public facility) who performs personal services for customers

b : a man's male servant who performs personal services (such as taking care of clothing)

2 : a device (such as a rack or tray) for holding clothing or personal effects

See valet defined for English-language learners

See valet defined for kids

Recent Examples of valet from the Web

Send tips, comments, valet-line gossip, and Meryl Streep’s Monterey coffee-shop order to Rebecca_Keegan@condenast.com.

— rebecca keegan, HWD, "Emmy Voters Grapple with a Controversial New Hit," 6 Apr. 2018
Prince Charles’ pick to help with the planning, his former valet Michael Fawcett, was dismissed as too traditional, and the couple wants to avoid hiring too many people over the age of 40.

— megan friedman, Harper's BAZAAR, "Meghan Markle Reportedly Has a Secret, Unofficial Wedding Planner," 3 Apr. 2018
Audi demonstrated a robot valet as far back as 2013, at CES in Las Vegas, and the city of West Hollywood, California, has built a parking garage that uses small insect-like robots to lift cars and move them to open spaces, with no driver inside.

— alex davies, WIRED, "Forget Self Driving. The Future is in Self Parking," 25 Mar. 2018
An intact bowl, overlaid with a golden glaze, shows a valet attending to a cheetah; the animals were trained by the Fatimids to hunt gazelle.

— brigit katz, Smithsonian, "Landmark Exhibition Takes You Inside the Exuberant, Diverse World of the Fatimid Dynasty," 21 Mar. 2018
This is the city that gave us Kraftwerk, the hoppy goodness of Altbier, and robot valets.

— sebastian modak, Condé Nast Traveler, "The Best Cities for Expats," 21 Mar. 2018
The employees who worked as valet or cashiers could get rehired by the new vendor or get placed at other AAA Parking jobs, Garrison said.

— gabrielle russon, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Nearly 100 AAA Parking employees could lose jobs, per state filing," 19 Mar. 2018
The city has budgeted $1.2 million for valet and shuttle services, which will come from the city’s downtown improvement financing fund.

— jill terreri ramos, BostonGlobe.com, "Hancock parking lot to close this summer," 16 Mar. 2018
In addition to having its valets pick you up in your own car, the company handles parking, oil changes, state inspections, windshield wiper replacement, repairs and gas.

— peter holley, Washington Post, "Apps, autonomy and ownership: Three ways driving is changing in 2018," 15 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'valet.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of valet

Middle English vadlet, valet, varlet "male servant, groom, knight's attendant," borrowed from Anglo-French, "young man of noble birth serving a lord, boy, servant," going back to Gallo-Romance *vassellittus, diminutive of *vassellus, diminutive of early Medieval Latin vassus "serf, servant, vassal" — more at vassal

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1b

See Words from the same year