(in golf 高尔夫球 a person who helps a player during a game by carrying his or her clubs and equipment, and by giving advice 球童（比赛时替运动员背球棒、拿器具等） Word Originmid 17th cent. (originally Scots): from French cadet. The original term denoted a gentleman who joined the army without a commission, intending to learn the profession and follow a military career, later coming to mean ‘odd-job man’. The current sense dates from the late 18th cent.