Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Croupier
Crou′pi·er (kr??′p?-?r), n. [F.; prop., one who sits on the croup, and hence, in the second place; an assistant. See 1st Croup.] 1. One who presides at a gaming table and collects the stakes.
2. One who, at a public dinner party, sits at the lower end of the table as assistant chairman.