Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Henchman

Henchman (hench"man) , noun

[Old English hencheman, henxman; prob. from Old English & Anglo-Saxon hengest horse + English man, and meaning, a groom. Anglo-Saxon hengest is akin to Dutch & German hengst stallion, Old High German hengist horse, gelding.]

An attendant; a servant; a follower. Now chiefly used as a political cant term.