Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
varlet - 4 dictionary results

var⋅let

  [vahr-lit]
Use varlet in a Sentence
–noun Archaic.
1. a knavish person; rascal.
2.
a. an attendant or servant.
b. a page who serves a knight.
Origin:
1425–75; late ME < MF; var. of valet
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To varlet
var·let   (vär'lĭt)   
n.  
  1. An attendant or servant.
  2. A knight's page.
  3. A rascal; a knave.

[Middle English, from Old French, variant of vaslet; see valet.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Varlet

Var"let\, n. [OF. varlet, vaslet, vallet, servant, young man, young noble, dim of vassal. See Vassal, and cf. Valet.]

1. A servant, especially to a knight; an attendant; a valet; a footman. [Obs.] --Spenser. Tusser.

2. Hence, a low fellow; a scoundrel; a rascal; as, an impudent varlet.

What a brazen-faced varlet art thou ! --Shak.

3. In a pack of playing cards, the court card now called the knave, or jack. [Obs.]
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source

varlet 
1456, "servant, attendant of a knight," from M.Fr. varlet (14c.), variant of vaslet, originally "squire, young man," from O.Fr. vassal (see vassal). The meaning "rascal, rogue" is 1550.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Search another word or see varlet on Thesaurus | Reference