家来・家礼・家頼|けらいkerai[1]atamadaka (head-high)

1. nounretainer; vassal; follower
   ハンプティダンプティ、壁かべの上うえに座すわって、ハンプティダンプティ、ドシンと落おちた。王おう様さまの馬うまのみんなも王様おうさまの家来けらいのみんなもハンプティを元もとに戻もどせなかった。↗

   Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again.

• Related使用人しようにんNeutralNeutral. A hired employee or servant, still in modern use; 「家来」 has a historical lord-vassal flavor and is seldom used for real employment today.
• Related召し使いめしつかいNeutralNeutral. A servant doing chores in the home, somewhat old-fashioned; 「家来」 is a retainer serving a lord, not a household servant.
• Related下人げにんWrittenWritten/formal prose. A low-status person or menial, with a disparaging nuance; 「家来」 is a lord's retainer, stressing the lord-vassal bond, not lowly status.
• Related下男げなんWrittenWritten/formal prose. An old-fashioned word for a manservant doing odd jobs; 「家来」 is a retainer serving a lord, not limited to chores.
• Related下僕げぼくWrittenWritten/formal prose. A male servant, stressing the status of one who awaits orders; 「家来」 stresses the lord-vassal tie to a samurai lord.
• Related下郎げろうWrittenWritten/formal prose. A lowly manservant, contemptuous and now rare; 「家来」 is a retainer serving a lord and carries no contempt itself.
• Related家従かじゅうWrittenWritten/formal prose. A manservant who does housework and tends to the master's daily needs; 「家来」 is a lord's retainer, not limited to household work.
• Related家僕かぼくWrittenWritten/formal prose. A manservant serving within the master's home, rare in writing; 「家来」 is a lord's retainer, not limited to housework.
• Related従僕じゅうぼくWrittenWritten/formal prose. A manservant attending at the master's side; 「家来」 is a retainer in a lord-vassal bond, not necessarily of low rank.
• Related奉公人ほうこうにんNeutralNeutral. Covers those serving a samurai or merchant household, even a samurai serving his lord, overlapping with 「家来」; 「家来」 stresses the lord-vassal bond more.
• Related小者こものNeutralNeutral. An errand boy in a samurai family, also a nobody of little account; 「家来」 means retainers in general, not only the lowly.
• Related奴僕ぬぼくWrittenWritten/formal prose. A menial male servant, rare in writing, stressing lowly status; 「家来」 is a retainer serving a lord.
• Related折助おりすけWrittenWritten/formal prose. A historical term for a manservant hired by a samurai in the Edo period; 「家来」 is a general word for a lord's retainer.

Use 「家来」 for a retainer or vassal serving a lord, as in 「家来を従える」. For a male servant in the home, say 「下男」 or 「召し使い」; for a hired employee, 「使用人」; 「奉公人」 broadly covers those serving samurai or merchant households.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

1. 君主くんしゅ、武家ぶけに仕つかえること。また、そのような者もの。
2. （「家礼かれい」「家いえ頼らい」とも）親おやや尊みこと族ぞくを敬うやまい礼れいを尽つくすこと。また、他人たにんに礼れいを尽つくすこと。
3. （「家礼かれい」「家いえ頼らい」とも）朝廷ちょうていの公事おおやけごとや故実こじつを習ならうため摂家せっけなどに出入でいりする者もの。