English
serve
Serve comes from Old French servir, from Latin serviō ‘to be a slave; to serve’, from servus ‘slave’, whose origin is uncertain.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEservus‘slave, servant’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEserviō‘to be a slave; to serve’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400servir‘to serve’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500serven‘to serve’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590serve
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEservus‘slave, servant’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEserviō‘to be a slave; to serve’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400servir‘to serve’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500serven‘to serve’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590serve
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto VII: “That gentle Lady, whom I loue and serue.”
The story
From Middle English serven, from Old French servir, from Latin serviō (‘be a slave; serve’), from Latin servus (‘slave; servant’), which perhaps derives from Etruscan (compare Etruscan proper names 𐌔𐌄𐌓𐌅𐌉 (servi), 𐌔𐌄𐌓𐌅𐌄 (serve)), or from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (‘watch over, protect’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘watch over, protect’
sort, series, stream, hero, insert, assertion, heresy, exert, sermon, concierge, sorcery, sorcerer, heretic, sark, assertive, strudel, deserter, sere, 32 more
through Old Latin servos
through Latin servus ‘slave’
service, conservative, reservoir, conservatism, observant, servitude, conservator, servile, serf, 9 more
through Latin serviō ‘be a slave’
through Old French servir ‘to serve’
Today it means
verb To be a formal servant for (a god or deity); to worship in an official capacity.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin servus / serve