English
service
Service comes from Middle English servise, from Old French servise ‘service’, from Latin servitium ‘slavery’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *serwos ‘guardian’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*serwos‘guardian’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEservos
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEservus‘servant; serf; slave’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEservitium‘slavery’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400servise‘service’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150serfis
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500servise‘the state of being employed’
- Englishearliest quotation 1613service
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*serwos‘guardian’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEservos
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEservus‘servant; serf; slave’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEservitium‘slavery’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400servise‘service’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150serfis
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500servise‘the state of being employed’
- Englishearliest quotation 1613service
Earliest quotation: 1613, William Shakespeare, The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight: “Pray, do my service to his majesty.”
The story
From Middle English servise, from Old English serfis, from Old French servise (French service), from the verb servir, from Latin servitium (compare Portuguese serviço, Italian servizio, Norman sèrvice, Spanish servicio), from servus (‘servant; serf; slave’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo-s (‘guardian’), possibly from *ser- (‘watch over, protect’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to guard, take care’
sort, series, stream, hero, desert, insert, assertion, sermon, heresy, exert, concierge, assertive, sorcery, sorcerer, sark, heretic, strudel, sere, 33 more
through Proto-Italic *serwos ‘guardian?’
through Old Latin servos
through Latin servus ‘a slave’
conservative, serve, reservoir, conservatism, observant, conservator, serf, 11 more
Another origin of service
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-‘red, reddish-brown’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsorbus‘service tree’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*sorbeareconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150syrfe‘service tree’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500serves
- Englishtodayservice
Properly, the tree that bears sorb fruit, from Middle English serves, plural of serve (‘sorb apple, serviceberry’), from Old English syrfe, from Vulgar Latin *sorbea, from Latin sorbus (‘service tree’).
Today it means
noun An act of being of assistance to someone.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *serwos / service