Etymologically
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deserve

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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

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.