servus

Bavarian

Alternative forms

• servas, seas

Etymology

An ellipsis from the commoners’ greeting once said to feudal lords, "servus humillimus [, Domine spectabilis]", in Latin meaning "(I am your) most humble servant[, (O/my) noble lord]".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈse̞ɐ̯vus/, /ˈse̞ɐ̯βus/
• Hyphenation: ser‧vus

Interjection

servus

1. (informal) hello, hi
2. (informal) bye, goodbye

Derived terms

• nå 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]

Interjection

servus

1. (colloquial) hi, hiya

   Synonym: ahoj

2. (colloquial) cheerio, bye, so long, ta-ta

   Synonym: ahoj

Further reading

• “servus”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “servus”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈservus/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ervus
• Syllabification: ser‧vus

Verb

servus

1. conditional of servi

German

FWOTD – 29 March 2026

Etymology

An ellipsis from the commoners’ greeting once said to feudal lords, "servus humillimus [, Domine spectabilis]", in Latin meaning "(I am your) most humble servant[, (O/my) noble lord]".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzɛrvʊs/, (Austria, Bavaria usually) [ˈsɛɐ̯.ʋus]

• Audio:

  (file)

Interjection

servus (Bavaria, Austria, South Tyrol, chiefly informal)

1. hello, hi

   Synonyms: hallo, hi, hey, grüß Gott, Tag, moin

   • 1894 February 14, “Ein Halodri.”, in Österreichische Volks-Zeitung‎^[1], number 44:

     Seine Blicke kreuzten sich mit denen seines Schwagers, der Postbeamter war und eben mit dem Postzuge von der entgegengesetzten Seite in die Station einfuhr. "Servus, Edi! Wohin, wohin?"

     His eyes met those of his brother-in-law, who was a post official and at just that moment arrived at the station with a post train coming from the opposite direction. "Hello, Edi! Where to, where to?"

   • 2021, Eli Voss, Mit fünfzig erwartest du Meer, Penguin Random House, →ISBN:

     Schon steht er an meinem Tisch und hält mir die Hand entgegen. »Horst Brettschneider. Servus, du. Im ersten Moment habe ich geglaubt, du seist die Inge.«

     In the blink of an eye he is standing next to my table and is offering me his hand. "Horst Brettschneider. Hi, you. At first I thought you were Inge".

2. goodbye, bye, farewell

   Synonyms: tschüss, tschö, bis dann

   • 1980 [1954], Hermann Broch, chapter 9, in Die Verzauberung‎^[2], Suhrkamp:

     »Vielleicht treffen Sie mich dort«, flüsterte Suck. Lax drehte sich um: »Servus, Suck«, sagte er und schlug ihm auf die Schulter, »heirat' bald.« Doch als wir weiterfuhren, da war er finster und nachdenklich.

     "Maybe you'll meet me there", Suck whispered. Lax turned around: "Goodbye, Suck", he said, and dropped his hand on his shoulder, "marry soon." But when we traveled on, his mood was dark and pensive.

   • 1998, Martin Walser, Ein springender Brunnen‎^[3], Suhrkamp, →ISBN, page 84:

     Servus, rief Ludwig und rannte davon.

     Bye, Ludwig called, and ran off.

3. (as a toast) cheers

   Synonyms: prost, Stößchen

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. Most usage is now informal, though the degree to which is the case may depend on dialect, class, region, or even village.

Related terms

• Service

Further reading

• “servus” in Duden online
• “servus” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Hungarian

Etymology

See szervusz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛrvus]
• Hyphenation: ser‧vus
• Rhymes: -us

Interjection

servus

1. (archaic) alternative form of szervusz: hello; goodbye

Further reading

• szervusz in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Latin

Alternative forms

• servos (archaic)

Etymology

From Old Latin servos, from Proto-Italic *serwos (“guardian”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo-s (“guardian”), possibly from *ser- (“watch over, protect”) +‎ *-wós. Cognate with servō, Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (haraⁱti, “he heeds, protects”), Northern Luri هیر (hir, “protects”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛr.wʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈsɛr.vus]
• Hyphenation: ser‧vus

Noun

servus m (genitive servī, feminine serva); second declension

1. a slave
   • Captivi ("the captives") by Plautus (English and Latin text)

     Quem patrem, qui servos est?

     Father! What do you mean, when he’s a slave?

2. a serf
3. a servant

Usage notes

• Until the Augustan period, servos was more common.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	servus	servī
genitive	servī	servōrum
dative	servō	servīs
accusative	servum	servōs
ablative	servō	servīs
vocative	serve	servī

Derived terms

• servīlis
• serviō
• servitūdō
• servitūs
• servulus
• servus Deī (Ecclesiastical Latin)
• servus servōrum Deī (Ecclesiastical Latin)

Descendants

• Asturian: siervu
• Catalan: serv, serf
• Friulian: sierf
• Italian: servo
• Occitan: sèrve
• Old French: serf
  • Middle French: serf
    • French: serf
  • → English: serf
• Portuguese: servo
• Romanian: șerb, → serv
• Sicilian: serbu
• Spanish: siervo

See also

• ancula (> ancilla)
• anculus
• sclavus
• familiāris

Further reading

• “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: E. J. Brill, page 967/2

Adjective

servus (feminine serva, neuter servum); first/second-declension adjective

1. slavish, servile (to the senses or to authority)
2. (of lands, buildings) subject or liable to servitude

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	servus	serva	servum		servī	servae	serva
genitive	servī	servae	servī		servōrum	servārum	servōrum
dative	servō	servae	servō		servīs
accusative	servum	servam	servum		servōs	servās	serva
ablative	servō	servā	servō		servīs
vocative	serve	serva	servum		servī	servae	serva

Further reading

• “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)

Further reading

• “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, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[4], 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)
    
• “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

Anagrams

• versus

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from German servus. Greeting found throughout the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈser.vus/

Interjection

servus (informal, Transylvania, Maramureș, Bukovina)

1. hi, hello
2. see you (later)

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• serbus

Etymology

Borrowed from German servus, ultimately from Latin servus (“slave”).

Interjection

sèrvus (Cyrillic spelling сѐрвус) (Croatia, dated)

1. hello
2. good bye

Synonyms

• bok (Croatian), ćao, zdravo

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/

Interjection

servus

1. hello
2. hi
3. howdy

Further reading

• “servus”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026