A pantry or storage room in a large household where a butler keeps dishes, silverware, wine, and other supplies; also spelled butleries in plural.
From Middle English and Old French bouteillerie, originally meaning a wine cellar or place for storing bottles. Over time it came to mean the butler's office or pantry where he kept household supplies.
The butlery was the butler's kingdom—it wasn't just a storage closet but a command center where he organized all the household's formal dining operations, often with its own security locks.
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