# seneschal

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈsɛnəʃəl/ · frequency rank #98,696

## Definitions
1. A steward, particularly (historical) one in charge of a medieval nobleman's estate.
2. 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.

## 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.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/seneschal