Meaning

noun a male servant (especially a footman)

noun a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage

originBorrowed from Middle French laquais, which is probably (via Old Occitan lacai?) from Spanish lacayo, itself perhaps from Italian lacchè and Greek λακές (lakés), from Turkish ulak. Another possibility is through French, from Catalan alacay, from Arabic الْقَائِد (al-qāʔid). See French laquais.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0