English
servile
Servile comes from Latin servīlis ‘slave’, from Proto-Italic *serwos ‘guardian’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo-s.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-wo-s‘guardian’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*serwos‘guardian’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEservos
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEservus‘slave’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEservīlis‘slave’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400servil
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500servyle‘Fitting for or pertaining to a servant or slave’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1699 – 1703servile
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ser-wo-s‘guardian’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*serwos‘guardian’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEservos
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEservus‘slave’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEservīlis‘slave’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400servil
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500servyle‘Fitting for or pertaining to a servant or slave’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1699 – 1703servile
Earliest quotation: c. 1699 – 1703, Alexander Pope, The First Book of Statius His Thebais: “Even fortune rules no more, O servile land!”
Equivalent to serve + -ile
Latin servus ‘slave, servant’
Latin serviō ‘to be a slave; to serve’
Old French servir ‘to serve’
Middle English serven ‘to serve’
English serve
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘watch over, protect’
sort, series, stream, hero, desert, insert, assertion, sermon, heresy, exert, concierge, sorcery, sorcerer, assertive, heretic, sark, strudel, sere, 33 more
through Proto-Italic *serwos ‘guardian’
through Old Latin servos
through Latin servus ‘slave’
conservative, serve, reservoir, conservatism, observant, conservator, serf, 11 more
Today it means
adj Excessively eager to please; obsequious.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo-s / servile