■ noun ( plural ~s )
1》 a servant, especially a liveried footman or manservant.
2》 a servile or obsequious person.
3》 a brownish moth whose caterpillars live in groups in a silken shelter. [ Malacosoma neustria .]
■ verb ( ~s , ~ing , ~ed ) archaic behave in a servile way towards.
Origin
C16: from Fr. laquais , perh. from Catalan alacay , from Arab. al-ḵā'id 'the chief'. Sense 3 derives from the resemblance of the coloured stripes of the caterpillars to a footman's livery.