Plural of butlery; pantries or storage rooms where a butler keeps dishes, silverware, and beverages in a large household.
From Middle English butlerie, derived from Old French bouteillerie (wine cellar), from bouteille (bottle). The word originally referred to a room for storing bottles and wine, later expanding to mean the butler's pantry.
The butlery was so important in medieval castles that it was often one of the most secure rooms—storing valuable silverware and wine made it a target for thieves, so butlers became trusted guards of treasure as much as servants.
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