henchman

From Middle English henxman (“page, attendant”), from Old English *hengstmann, *hengestmann (“groom”, literally “horseman”), from hengst, hengest (“stallion, horse, steed, gelding”) (from Proto-Germanic *hangistaz (“stallion”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱanḱest-, *kankest- (“horse”)) + mann (“man”). Cognate with archaic German Hengstmann (“a groom”), Icelandic hestamaður (“horseman, groom”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛnt͡ʃ.mən/

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henchman (plural henchmen)

1. A loyal and trusted follower or subordinate.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:loyal follower

2. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) A person who supports a political figure chiefly out of selfish interests.
   • 1906, W. G. Joerns, “The Railroad Hold-up”, in Watson's Magazine, volume 5, page 397:

     The glib sophistries of the special pleader and the verdant gullibility of the public; the ridiculous, now happily fast disappearing partisan bias of the voter and the venal instincts of the political henchman; the lack of proper moral stamina in much of our public press, and the tardiness of practical public appreciation where journals are true to the people's interests the fear of the vengeance;

   • 1916, The History of Nations - Volume 10, page 165:

     It is madness to commence war against the audacious despots under any leader like Lafayette, the traitor and venal henchman of despotism, against whom the cries of the patriots murdered on July 17 call to Heaven.

   • 1935, William Dudley Pelley, Nations-in-law: an Unconventional Analysis Cleaning the Barnacles from the Ship of State:

     the great task confronting humankind today in effecting government that is worth its powder and shot is not regularity of attendance at the polls so much as in the intelligent analysis of the true leader from the henchman seeking selfish profit from the filling of an office.

   • 1998, Jay Robert Nash, Terrorism in the 20th Century, page 78:

     In appreciation for his service of railroading Frank, the power-brokering Watson sent his venal henchman Dorsey to the U.S. Congress for two terms .

   • 2005, Christian Riegel, Response to Death: The Literary Work of Mourning, page 53:

     The practice of doubling in this production further emphasizes the ascendancy of corporeal decay and violence in the tetralogy, for, in addition to Cade, Oliver Cotton also appears as the seductive cuckold-maker Suffolk and, in the final of the three installments of The Plantagenets, as Richard of Gloucester's venal and Machiavellian henchman, the Duke of Buckingham .

3. An assistant member of a criminal gang.
   • 2014, Paul A. Tenkotte, James C. Claypool, The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky, page 385:

     Most of the carpet joints were run by the mobsters and local henchmen associated with the Mayfield Road Gang, but Peter Schmidt's Playtorium and Glenn Rendezvous were also included.

4. (obsolete) A page to a prince or other person of high rank.

• “henchman”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.