Butler

Curiously, the word butler is thought to have derived from the term bottler. From the time of the Middle Ages through the mid-18th century, the English upper classes bought wine in barrels and then transferred it into bottles that sometimes carried a family seal, crest, or other private marking. In a significantly large and wealthy household, it was one of the food service tasks of the head servant to monitor the wine cellar, filling glass bottles as needed for the dining room. Thus the “bottler” from the Old French bouteillier (bottle bearer) became, in time, the butler.