servir

Forms

servir (first-person singular present sirvo, first-person singular preterite serví, past participle servido)^[1] The e of the stem becomes i in some forms: sirvo, sirvió, conjugated like pedir.^[2][1] Old Spanish wrote seruir, siruiesse, sirujo.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin servīre (“to be a slave; to serve”), derived from servus (“slave”).^[5][6][2][1] It is common to all the western Romance languages: Portuguese servir, Galician servir, Catalan servir, French servir and Italian servire.^[5][7][8]

The Latin verb meant “to be a slave, act as a slave”, and in law also “to be burdened with a servitude”; already in Latin, with a thing as subject, it meant “to be useful for”.^[8][9] De Vaan reconstructs the noun as Proto-Italic *serwo- (“shepherd”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser-u-o- (“guardian”), the noun also behind servāre (“to watch over”).^[10] Gómez de Silva mentions an Etruscan origin as a possibility, comparing Etruscan personal names.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates it to the Glosas Emilianenses, about 950, and then to the Cantar de mio Cid.^[5][6] In the Cid a man who has helped the hero fears the king's anger por lo que vos he servido “for the service I have done you”.^[4] The Liber Regum (c. 1194–1211) uses it of serving God as lord: God gave the kingdom to Jeroboam que lo siruiesse.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Berceo used it for serving God, and also for “to love”.^[12] Alfonso X's prose has it for being in another's service, carrying out an order, voluntary subjection and holding an office.^[13] Covarrubias in 1611 distinguished those who serve freely to please others, those who serve by force like slaves, and hired servants; he records servir de pelillo “to do small, fussy services” and no servir una cosa “to be of no use”.^[14] Baralt notes that the classics used servir with an object for “to repay”.^[15]

The DLE now has twenty senses, from being in someone's service and being useful (servir para, servir de) to waiting at table, serving food and, in sport, serving the ball.^[2] In rural Argentina, Cuba, Peru and Uruguay it is said of a male animal covering the female, and in Asturias and León also of hiring oneself out as a servant.^[2][16][17] In United States Spanish servir como “to serve as” (an official) follows English to serve.^[18]

Timeline

• c. 950 – the Glosas Emilianenses, the first record.^[5][6]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid.^[5][4]
• 1220–1250 – the derivatives servidor and sirviente are first recorded.^[6]
• c. 1254 – Alfonso X's Fuero Juzgo uses it for being in another's service.^[13]
• c. 1295 – sirvienta in the Primera Crónica General.^[5][6]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records servir de pelillo.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the etymology Del lat. servire.^[19]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, also transitive) To serve: to be in someone's service.^[2][1]
2. (intransitive) To be subject to someone, doing what he wants.^[2]
3. (intransitive) Of a tool or machine: to be suitable for a purpose: Este cuchillo sirve para cortar pan.^[2][1]
4. (intransitive, also transitive) To hold an office, one's own or in another's place; to stand in for someone.^[2]
5. (intransitive) To be useful, to be of use: No sirve de nada quejarse.^[2][1]
6. (intransitive) To serve as a soldier on active duty.^[2][1]
7. (intransitive) To wait at table, bringing or handing round food and drink.^[2][1]
8. (intransitive, sports) To serve in tennis and similar games.^[2][1]
9. (transitive) To worship God and the saints.^[2]
10. (transitive) To put food or drink on a plate or in a glass; to supply a product to a customer.^[2][1]
11. (transitive, rural Argentina, Cuba, Peru, Uruguay) Of a male animal: to cover the female.^[2][16]
12. (reflexive) To be pleased to do something, in polite requests: Sírvase esperar un momento.^[2]
13. (reflexive) To make use of something: servirse de una escalera.^[2][1]

Word family

• servidor
• sirviente
• sirvienta
• servible
• servido

Related words

• sargento
• servicio
• servidumbre
• servil
• siervo
• Latin serviō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. servir
3. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. servir
4. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. servir
5. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 243
6. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. siervo
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7874
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 642
12. ^ Lanchetas, Rufino (1900), Gramática y vocabulario de las obras de Gonzalo de Berceo, Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, p. 710
13. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. servir
14. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1296
15. ^ Baralt, Rafael María (1855), Diccionario de galicismos, Madrid: Imprenta de J. Cruzado, p. 654
16. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. servir
17. ^ Le Men Loyer, Janick (2002–2012), Léxico del leonés actual, 4 vols., León: Centro de Estudios e Investigación San Isidoro; electronic version, Universidad de León, p. s.v. servir
18. ^ Moreno-Fernández, Francisco (2018), Diccionario de anglicismos del español estadounidense (Informes del Observatorio 037-01/2018SP), Cambridge, Mass.: Instituto Cervantes at Harvard University, p. 85
19. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 972