deserve

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /dɪˈzɜːv/, US /dɪˈzɝːv/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English deserven,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French deservir (“to deserve, be worthy of, earn”) (modern desservir),^[4][2][5] from Latin dēservīre (“to serve well, serve zealously”),^[4][2][6] from dē- “completely” and servīre “to serve”,^[4][2] the source of serve.^[2][6] The classical Latin sense became “to be entitled to because of good service” in Late Latin, and then in French “to be worthy of”.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To be worthy of, merit”: about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle, according to Barnhart,^[2] and the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^[4] The OED's first sense, from 1292, is “to acquire a rightful claim by one's actions, earn”, now obsolete.^[7][5]

Semantic evolution

Hoad dates the obsolete “to become entitled to” to the 13th century and “to be worthy to have” to the 14th.^[6] The intransitive “to have just claims to reward or punishment” is from about 1300.^[7] Deserving, the noun, is from about 1300, and the adjective from 1576;^[2] deservedly is from the 16th century.^[6] Johnson in 1755 defined it as “to be worthy of either good or ill”.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – to merit.^[2]
• 1292 – to earn a claim.^[7]
• c. 1300 – deserving, noun.^[2]
• 16th century – deservedly.^[6]
• 1576 – deserving, adjective.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To be worthy of; to merit: deserves a medal.
2. To be worthy or deserving: deserve well of one's country.

Word family

• deserver
• well-deserved

Related words

• desert
• deserving
• serve
• service

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.