Scealc

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An Old English word for a servant, attendant, or retainer who served a lord or master
2. In early English usage, a household servant or attendant bound in loyalty to a lord
3. A term from Old English referring to a retainer or servant who waited upon a noble household

Etymology: Before it meant anything like a rogue, this Old English word meant a servant, retainer, or fighting man bound to a lord. It is a shared Germanic word, and its cousins show the same range: Gothic "skalks" meant servant, and Old High German "scalc" did too. English let the word fall out of use, but its Middle English form "shalk" survived for a while, still meaning a man or servant. The German descendant, "Schalk", went a different way. Over the centuries it drifted from "servant" to "knave" to a playful, mischievous troublemaker, the sort of person who plays tricks and gets away with them. English kept none of that shift, so the same old root became a cheeky rascal in German while fading from English altogether.