The butler is a senior servantA domestic worker, domestic, or servant is one who works, and often also lives, within the employer's household. Servants are distinguishable from serfs or slaves in that they are compensated, that is, they must receive payment (and, following labour ...servant in a large householdThe household is the basic unit of analysis in many microeconomic and government models. The term refers to all individuals who live in the same dwelling. Most economic models do not address whether the members of a household are a family in the traditional sense. Government and policy discussions often treat the terms household and family as synonymous, especially in western societies where the nuclear family has become the ...household.

Usually the butler is the most senior staff member, although in the great houses:For the architecture of great houses, see Mansion. For the great house masonry pueblos, see Chaco Culture National Historical Park. A great house is a large and stately residence; the term encompasses different styles of dwelling in different countries. The name refers to the makeup of the household rather than to any particular architectural style. It particularly refers to large households of times past in Anglophone countries (especially those of the turn ...great houses of the past, the household was sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room (including the wine cellarA Wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae or plastic containers. Wine cellars are usually located completely underground, and often have direct contact to the surrounding soil via a gap in the foundations.wine cellar) and pantry, and sometimes the entire parlour floor, and a housekeeperA housekeeper is an individual responsible for the cleaning and maintenance of the interior of a residence. The term is almost exclusively applied to females; males are generally referred to as housecleaners, head of household staff, or, under the old British Imperial system as houseboys (regardless of age).housekeeper who was in charge of the whole house and its appearance. Housekeepers are occasionally portrayed in literatureLiterature is literally "acquaintance with letters" as in the first sense given in the Oxford English Dictionary (from the Latin littera meaning "an individual written character (letter)"). The term has generally come to identify a collection of texts or works of art, which in Western culture are mainly prose, both fiction and non-fiction, ...literature as being the most senior staff member and as even making recommendations for the hiring of the butler.

In modern houses where the butler is the most senior worker, titles such as MajordomoA majordomo is the head (major) person of a domestic (domo) staff, one who acts on behalf of the (often absent) owner of a typically large residence. Similar terms include castellan, chamberlain, seneschal, maître d'hôtel, butler and steward. The etymology is from mayordomo (Spanish) and major domus (Latin). Usually ranking above the butler, the majordomo is responsible for all managerial and financial affairs ...Majordomo, Butler Administrator, House manager, Manservant, Staff Manager, Estate Manager and Head of Household Staff are sometimes given. The precise duties of the employee will vary to some extent in line with the title given, but perhaps more importantly in line with the requirements of the individual employer.

The earliest literary mention of a butler is probably that of the man whose release from prison was predicted by Joseph:For the New Testament Joseph, see Saint Joseph. Joseph or Yosef (Hebrew: יוֹסֵף, Standard Yosef Tiberian ', Arabic: يوسف, Yusuf ; "He (The Lord) increases/may add"), is a major figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). He was Jacob's eleventh son and Rachel's first.. Joseph is one of the best-known figures in the torah, famous for his coat of many colors (although this may be a mistranslation of the Hebrew word for "sleeves") and his God-given ...Joseph in the biblicalThe word Bible refers to the canonical collections of sacred writings or books of Judaism and Christianity.Dictionary.com Books included as canon in the Bible vary according to different traditions. Judaism's Bible, often referred to as the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, includes the books common to both the Christian and Jewish biblical canons.See Patrick H. Alexander The SBL Handbook of Style. Peabody, ...biblical account of Joseph's interpretation of the dreams of the PharaohPharaoh was the ancient Egyptian name for the office of kingship. The term began as a reference to the king's palace, but the meaning loosened over the course of Egyptian history until in the late period it was interchangeable with the Egyptian word for king. Such rulers were believed to be the incarnation of Horus.The Way to Eternity: Egyptian Myth, F. Fleming & A. Lothian, 12, 59Pharaoh's servants.

The word "butler" derives from the Old FrenchOld French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of Belgium and Switzerland from around 1000 to 1300. It was known at the time as the langue d'oïl to distinguish it from the langue d'oc (also then called Provençal) which bordered these areas to the south.Old French "bouteillier", (meaning "cup bearer"), from "bouteille", ("bottle") and ultimately from Latin. The role of the butler, for centuries, has been that of the chief stewardA Steward is a servant who manages another's property, see Steward (household) *Lord Steward, an important official of the English Royal Household *Lord High Steward, the first of the Great Officers of State of England *High Steward of Scotland *Lord High Steward of Ireland *High Steward of Westminster Abbey *High ...steward of a household, the attendant entrusted with the care and serving of wine and other bottled beverages (which in ancient times might have represented a considerable portion of the household's assets).

In Britain the butler was originally a middle ranking member of the staff of a grand household. In the 17th and 18th centuries the butler gradually became the usually senior male member of a household's staff (in the very grandest households there was sometimes a steward who ran the entire estate, rather than just the household, and who was senior to the butler into the 19th century). Butlers used to always be attired in a special uniform, distinct from the liveryNo quick definition available. livery of junior servants, but today a butler is more likely to wear a business suit or business casual clothing and appear in uniform only on special occasions.

Butlers used to work their way up from the bottom and belong to clubs in larger cities such as London, but today, tend to go to butler schools and belong to guilds such as The International Institute of Modern Butlers and The Guild of Professional English Butlers. Butlers are also to be found not only in private residences, but in hotels, in corporate settings, on yachts, in Embassies, and even running their own Rent-a-Butler agency.