seneschal

Meaning

Noun

• A steward, particularly one in charge of a medieval nobleman's estate.
• An officer of the crown in late medieval and early modern France who served as a kind of governor and chief justice of the royal court in Normandy and Languedoc.

Related

Similar words

• See steward

Origin

• From Middle English seneschal (recorded in English since 1393), from Old French seneschal, from Medieval Latin siniscalcus, from Frankish *siniskalk, from Proto-Germanic *siniskalkaz, from Proto-Germanic *siniz ("senior") + *skalkaz; latter term as in marshal. As an officer of the French crown, via French sénéchal.