Probably a Persian word meaning master of wine, i.e., chief butler; the title of an officer at the Babylonian court (Dan. 1:11, 16) who had charge of the diet of the Hebrew youths.
Melzar
Would eating plain food really matter? Daniel thought it might. Taken to Babylon and offered the king’s rich meat and wine, he turned to the steward set over him, whom the KJV names Melzar, and asked for a ten-day test: vegetables and water, then compare. Melzar agreed. At the end of the ten days the young men looked healthier than those who ate the king’s food, so he took away the meat and wine and kept giving them vegetables. It is a small, quiet scene in Daniel 1:11-16, about a kind official and a modest request.
6 verses
Daniel
Daniel 1:11
Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah,
Daniel 1:12
Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
Daniel 1:13
Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants.
Daniel 1:14
So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
Daniel 1:15
And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.
Daniel 1:16
Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.
From Easton's Bible Dictionary
Matthew George Easton, 1897
From Smith's Bible Dictionary
William Smith, 1884
(steward). The Authorized Version is wrong in regarding melzar as a proper name; it is rather an official title, (Daniel 1:11,16) the marginal reading, "the steward," is therefore more correct.