valet-de-place

noun

In France, a person who offered his services as a guide, messenger, etc. for hire, especially to strangers.

OriginFrench [Term?] →
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Meanings

nounvalet-de-place (plural valets-de-place)

plural valets-de-place

  1. historicalIn France, a person who offered his services as a guide, messenger, etc. for hire, especially to strangers.

    I therefore added to my own English servants […] a Frenchman, who had formerly served me as valet de place, and of whom I had a very good opinion.

    1792, Charlotte Smith, Desmond, Broadview, published 2001, page 383

Origin

  1. French[Term?]
  2. Englishvalet-de-place

Borrowed from French [Term?].

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

valet-de-place. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valet-de-place

MLA

“valet-de-place.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valet-de-place. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “valet-de-place,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/valet-de-place.

Source: valet-de-place on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.