seneschal

English

Alternative forms

• seneskal (dated or rare)

Etymology

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 (“servant”); latter term as in marshal. As an officer of the French crown, via French sénéchal.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛnəʃəl/ enPR: sĕnʹə-shəl

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: sen‧e‧schal

Noun

seneschal (plural seneschals)

1. A steward, particularly (historical) one in charge of a medieval nobleman's estate.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 131:

     Beside stood seneschals, the appointed witnesses of the ensuing games.

   • 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter 35, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC:

     […] so the very keenest seneskal can't see no sign […]

   • 1964, Jan Morris, “Four Cities”, in Spain, Faber and Faber, published 2008, →ISBN:

     It was in the queer little Church of Vera Cruz, beneath the castle, that the Knights Templar performed their secret rites of chivalry, standing vigil over their arms all night, in all the mysterious splendour of seneschal, gonfalon, and accolade.

2. (historical) 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.

Synonyms

• (steward): See steward

Derived terms

• (office; term): seneschalship
• (office; term; purview): seneschalty

Translations

steward in charge of a medieval nobleman's estate

• Armenian:

  Middle Armenian: սենեսկալ (seneskal)

• Bulgarian: сенеша́л m (senešál)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 皇室總管／皇室总管

• Finnish: senesalkki (fi)
• French: sénéchal (fr)
• Ido: seneshalo (io)
• Latin: dapifer c
• Middle English: seneschal
• Polish: seneszal m
• Portuguese: senescal (pt) m
• Russian: сенеша́ль (ru) m (senešálʹ)
• Spanish: senescal m

See also

• (equivalent medieval office in northern France): bailiff

Anagrams

• Senechals

Dutch

Noun

seneschal m (plural seneschallen or seneschals)

1. Archaic form of seneschalk.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• seneschall, senyschall, senescal, senescall, synechall, syneschall, seneshal
• (Late ME) senesciall, senceall, sencial, senciall

Etymology

From Old French seneschal, from Medieval Latin siniscalcus, from Frankish *siniskalk, from Proto-Germanic *siniskalkaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛnɛstʃal/, /ˈsɛniʃal/, /ˈsɛnitʃal/, /ˈsɛniskal/

Noun

seneschal (plural seneschals)

1. A steward in charge of a nobleman's estate.
2. A viceroy; one governing in place of a ruler.

Descendants

• English: seneschal
• Scots: senescall, seneschall (obsolete)

References

• “seneshal, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old French

Alternative forms

• seneschall

Noun

seneschal oblique singular, m (oblique plural seneschaus or seneschax or seneschals, nominative singular seneschaus or seneschax or seneschals, nominative plural seneschal)

1. seneschal
   • c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     "Oïl, mout m'an sovient il bien.
     Seneschaus, savez vos an rien?

     Yes, I remember it well.
     Senschal, do you know anything about it?

Descendants

• Middle French: seneschal, senechal
  • French: sénéchal
• → Middle Armenian: սենեսկալ (seneskal), սենէսկալ (senēskal), սենեսջալ (senesǰal), սինիջալ (siniǰal), սինէգալ (sinēgal)
• → Middle Dutch: seneschal, seneschael
  • Dutch: seneschalk, seneschaal, seneschael, seneschalck (obsolete), seneschal (archaic)
• → Middle English: seneschal, senescall, seneschall
  • English: seneschal
  • Scots: senescall, seneschall (obsolete)
• → Middle High German: seneschalc, sëneschalt, seneschlant, scheneschlant (also possibly from Middle Latin)
  • German: Seneschall