servant

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old French servant, from the present participle of the verb servir.

Pronunciation

Noun

servant (plural servants)

  1. One who is hired to perform regular household or other duties, and receives compensation. As opposed to a slave.
    There are three servants in the household, the butler and two maids.
    • 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, OCLC 5661828:
      As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, but I would not go out of my way to protest against it. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. I would very gladly make mine over to him if I could.
  2. One who serves another, providing help in some manner.
    She is quite the humble servant, the poor in this city owe much to her but she expects nothing.
  3. (religion) A person who dedicates themselves to God.
  4. (dated) A professed lover.
  5. A person of low condition or spirit.

Derived terms
Derived terms

Translations
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Translations to be checked

Verb

servant (third-person singular simple present servants, present participle servanting, simple past and past participle servanted)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To subject.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for servant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Anagrams

French

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French servant, a substantivized present participle of servir. Cf. also Latin serviens, and French sergent.

Pronunciation
  • Audio(file)

Verb

servant

  1. present participle of servir

Noun

servant m (plural servants, feminine servante)

  1. servant

Further reading

Anagrams

Latin

Verb

servant

  1. third-person plural present active indicative of servō

Middle English

Etymology

Old French servant, originally the present participle of servir

Noun

servant (plural servants)

  1. servant

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

servant m (definite singular servanten, indefinite plural servanter, definite plural servantene)

  1. a washbasin
  2. a sink

Synonyms

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

servant m (definite singular servanten, indefinite plural servantar, definite plural servantane)

  1. a washbasin
  2. a sink

Synonyms

Old French

Verb

servant

  1. present participle of servir

Adjective

servant m (oblique and nominative feminine singular servant or servante)

  1. that serves; that fulfils a role

Noun

servant m (oblique plural servanz or servantz, nominative singular servanz or servantz, nominative plural servant)

  1. servant (one who serves)

Descendants
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