servus
Czech
Alternative forms
- serbus (rare)
Etymology
The greeting evolved by the commoners greeting their lords with the words servus humillimus, Domine spectabilis, meaning your humble servant, my noble Lord. No subservience is implied in its modern use.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ˈsɛrvus]
Synonyms
- See ahoj
Esperanto
German
Etymology
An ellipsis from the commoners’ greeting once said to feudal lords, "servus humillimus (Domine spectabilis)", in Latin meaning "(I am a) most humble servant, (O) noble Lord".
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsɛrvus/ ~ IPA(key): /ˈzɛɐ̯vus/
Audio (file)
Interjection
servus
Usage notes
- No subservience is implied in modern use, and the origin of the term is not commonly known. Educated usage may be sincere, jocular or ironic.
- Usage of the salutation in German, as well as nearby languages like Hungarian, Slovakian, and Romanian, roughly corresponds to the former borders of Austria-Hungary.
- Despite the formal origins of the term, its usage is now chiefly, but not exclusively informal; the degree of decorum is dependent on context of region, dialect, class, or even village.
Latin
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo- (“guardian”), possibly from *ser- (“watch over, protect”). Cognate with servō, Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (haraiti, “he heeds, protects”).[1]
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈser.wus/, [ˈsɛr.wʊs]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈser.vus/
Audio (Classical) (file)
Noun
servus m (genitive servī); second declension
Declension
Second-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | servus | servī |
Genitive | servī | servōrum |
Dative | servō | servīs |
Accusative | servum | servōs |
Ablative | servō | servīs |
Vocative | serve | servī |
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
See also
References
- servus² in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- servus² in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette: “1,432/2”
- “seruus¹” on page 1,748/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
- Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976), “servus”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 967/2
Declension
First/second-declension adjective.
Number | Singular | Plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Case / Gender | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | |
Nominative | servus | serva | servum | servī | servae | serva | |
Genitive | servī | servae | servī | servōrum | servārum | servōrum | |
Dative | servō | servō | servīs | ||||
Accusative | servum | servam | servum | servōs | servās | serva | |
Ablative | servō | servā | servō | servīs | |||
Vocative | serve | serva | servum | servī | servae | serva |
References
- servus¹ in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- servus¹ in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette: “1,432/2”
- “seruus²” on page 1,748 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
References
- servus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- servus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- servus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to act the rôle of a slave, pander: agere servum, lenonem
- a good, useful slave: frugi (opp. nequam) servus
- a degraded, servile condition: infima fortuna or condicio servorum
- (ambiguous) to examine slaves by torture: de servis quaerere (in dominum)
- to act the rôle of a slave, pander: agere servum, lenonem
- servus in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- servus in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
- De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill
Romanian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈser.vus/
Serbo-Croatian
Alternative forms
Slovak
Etymology
The greeting evolved by the commoners greeting their lords with the words servus humillimus, Domine spectabilis, meaning your humble servant, my noble Lord. No subservience is implied in its modern use.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsɛrvus/
Further reading
- servus in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk