serve

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[edit] English

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[edit] Etymology

From Middle English serven, from Middle French servir, from Old French, from Latin servire (“to be a slave, to serve”), from Latin servus (“slave, servant”), perhaps from Etruscan ; compare Etruscan proper names Servi, Serve.[1]

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

serve (plural serves)

  1. (sports) the act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play in various games
    Whose serve is it?
  2. (Australian) A portion of food, a serving

[edit] Synonyms

  • (sports: act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play): service
  • (Australian: portion of food): See serving

[edit] Antonyms

  • (sports: act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play): receive

[edit] Translations

sports: act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play
AUS: portion of food — see serving

[edit] Verb

serve (third-person singular simple present serves, present participle serving, simple past and past participle served)

  1. (transitive) To be a formal servant for (a god or deity); to worship in an official capacity. [from 12th c.]
    • 1889, Philip Schaff, translating St Chrysostom, Homilies, XIV:
      And yet this is not the office of a Priest, but of Him whom the Priest should serve.
  2. (transitive) To be a servant for; to work for, to be employed by. [from 13th c.]
    • 1716, Joseph Addison, The Drummer:
      And, truly, Mrs Abigail, I must needs say, I served my master contentedly while he was living, but I will serve no man living (that is, no man that is not living) without double wages.
    • 1979, Bob Dylan, ‘Gotta Serve Somebody’:
      You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief, / They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief / But you're gonna have to serve somebody.
  3. (transitive) To wait upon (someone) at table; to set food and drink in front of, to help (someone) to food, meals etc. [from 13th c.]
    • 2007, Larry McMurty, When the Light Goes:
      That night Annie served him grilled halibut and English peas, plus tomatoes, of course, and a salad.
  4. (transitive, archaic) To treat (someone) in a given manner. [from 13th c.]
    • 1924, H Rider Haggard, Belshazzar:
      I mock them all who have served me ill of late and chiefly this cheat of Judah, whose temple we have plundered and whose golden vessels are my wash-pots.
  5. (intransitive) To be a servant or worker; to perform the duties of a servant or employee; to render service. [from 14th c.]
    • 1673, John Milton, ‘On his Blindness’:
      They also serve who only stand and wait.
  6. (transitive, archaic) To be suitor to; to be the lover of. [from 14th c.]
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, Faerie Queene, III.7:
      That gentle Lady, whom I loue and serue.
  7. (transitive) To be useful to; to meet the needs of. [from 14th c.]
    • 2010, Lloyd Marcus, The Guardian, 12 Oct 2010:
      So, while the sycophantic liberal media calls any and all opposition to Obama racist, they give Obama carte blanche to exploit his race whenever it serves his purpose.
  8. (intransitive) To have a given use or purpose; to function for something or to do something. [from 14th c.]
    • 2011, "Borgata bust", The Economist, 27 Jan 2011:
      The bust also served to remind the public that the Mafia is not harmless.
  9. (intransitive) To usefully take the place as, instead of something else. [from 14th c.]
    • 2010, "Not up in the air", The Economist, 20 Apr 2010:
      Maybe the volcanic eruption will serve as a wake-up call to such companies that they need to modernise their risk management.
  10. (transitive) To set down (food or drink) on the table to be eaten; to bring (food, drink) to a person. [from 15th c.]
    • 2009, Dominic A Pacyga, Chicago: A Biography, p. 195:
      About twenty minutes after waiters served the soup, a guest got up and left.
  11. (transitive, law) To officially deliver (a legal notice, summons etc.). [from 15th c.]
    • 2008 Colloff, Pamela, The Fire That Time, Texas Monthly; Austin: Emmis Publishing, April 2008, p. 158:
      On the morning of February 28, 1993, ATF agents gathered at a staging area near Waco and prepared to serve a search warrant on the Branch Davidians' residence.
  12. (transitive, law) To make legal service upon (a person named in a writ, summons, etc.)
    to serve a witness with a subpoena.
  13. (intransitive) To be in military service. [from 16th c.]
    • 2007, Peter Walker, The Guardian, 16 May 2007:
      Some reports suggested he would quit the army if he was not allowed to serve abroad in a war zone.
  14. (transitive, intransitive, sports) To lead off with the first delivery over the net in tennis, volleyball, ping pong, badminton etc. [from 16th c.]
    • 2007, Rob Antoun, Women's Tennis Tactics, page 2
      In women's tennis the need to serve more effectively has become greater in recent years because the game is being played more aggressively, and rallies are becoming shorter as a result.
  15. (transitive) To copulate with (of male animals); to cover. [from 16th c.]
    • 1996, Puck Bonnier et al., Dairy Cattle Husbandry, Agromisa Foundation 2004:
      Conception means that a cow is served by a bull and that she becomes pregnant.
  16. (transitive, military) To work, to operate (a weapon). [from 18th c.]
    • 1864, Horace Greeley, The American Conflict:
      John T. Greble, of the 2d regular artillery, was likewise killed instantly by a ball through the head, while serving his gun in the face of the foe.
  17. (transitive) To work through (a given period of time in prison, a sentence). [from 19th c.]
    • 2010, Tania Branigan, The Guardian, 1 Dec 2010:
      The Guangzhou Daily reported that Shi Chunlong, 20, who organised the incident, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Hou Bin, who pulled out of the attack after helping to plan it, will serve 12 years.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations

to work for
religion: to obey and worship
to be subordinate to
to be suitor to
to attend, supply the wants of
to bring food to
to perform duties
to contribute, promote
to act in place of
to treat (someone)
military: to work or operate
legal: to bring to notice, deliver, or execute
to make legal service on (someone)
to spend time (of punishment)
to copulate (of animals)
sports: to lead off with first delivery (of the ball)
to wind spun yarn
to be a servant
to perform domestic offices
to be in service
to be of use
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] References

  1. ^ “serve” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] French

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Verb form

serve

  1. First-person singular subjunctive present of servir
  2. Third-person singular subjunctive present of servir

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Italian

[edit] Noun

serve f.

  1. Plural form of serva.

[edit] Verb

serve

  1. third-person singular present indicative of servire

[edit] Latin

[edit] Noun

serve m.

  1. vocative singular of servus
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