sirviente

Forms

sirviente m or f by sense (plural sirvientes, feminine sirviente or sirvienta, feminine plural sirvientes or sirvientas)^[1] Old Spanish had serviente as well as sirviente, and spellings such as seruiente, siruient and syruientes.^[2][3] The feminine is sirvienta, or sirviente used as a feminine noun.^[1][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Spanish serviente, inherited from Latin serviēns (“serving”), the present participle of the verb serviō (“to serve; to be a slave”), itself from servus (“slave”).^[5][1][6] The DLE also describes it as from Spanish servir + -nte, the old present participle of the Spanish verb.^[5][7] Corominas records the form with ⟨seru-⟩ in Berceo, among the derivatives of servir.^[3][8]

The same Latin participle came into Spanish again as sargento, through French sergent “servant, sergeant”, and Old Occitan sirventés, a song of the troubadours, gave serventesio.^[3][8][9] The popular form is also Portuguese servente, Catalan servent and Italian servente.^[9][10][1]

The origin of the Latin noun for “slave” is uncertain: Wiktionary derives it from Proto-Italic *serwos (“guardian”) and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to watch over, protect”), while Wikcionario calls it probably Etruscan.^[1][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas's first record is Berceo (1220–1250), in the form serviente.^[3][8] DEMel lists an earlier sirbente from a document of 1125.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century the word meant a servant or attendant: in Alfonso X's General Estoria Darius writes with contempt of al mio siruiente alexandre “my servant Alexander”.^[12] The feminine sirvienta is recorded in the Primera Crónica General of about 1295.^[3][8]

The Diccionario de Autoridades calls it the active participle of servir, formerly serviente, usually meaning a household servant.^[13] Terreros used it for both sexes: una pobre sirviente “a poor servant woman”.^[14] Domínguez recorded the naval sense of each of the soldiers and seamen who work a gun, the source of the DLE's “person who operates a weapon or machine”.^[15][5] The Academy defined it as a domestic servant in 1884 and added the legal predio sirviente “servient estate” in 1899.^[16][17] The first record from the Americas is from Mexico in 1599.^[18]

Timeline

• 1220–1250 – Berceo uses serviente.^[3][8]
• 1280 – the fourth part of the General Estoria has al mio siruiente alexandre.^[12]
• c. 1295 – first record of the feminine sirvienta.^[3][8]
• 1599 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico.^[18]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades notes the older form serviente.^[13]
• 1846–1847 – Domínguez records the naval sense “member of a gun crew”.^[15]
• 1899 – the Academy records predio sirviente.^[17]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That serves;^[5][17] (law) of an estate: subject to an easement (predio sirviente).^[5][17]

Noun

1. A servant, especially a domestic one: Los sirvientes encendieron las chimeneas antes del amanecer.^[5][1][19]
2. (masculine) A person who operates a weapon, especially a piece of artillery, or a machine (servidor).^[5][4]

Related words

• servir
• siervo
• servidor
• sargento
• serventesio
• Latin serviēns
• French sergent

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. sirviente
3. ^ a b c d e f g Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 243
4. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. sirviente
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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. sirviente
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. sirviente
7. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. sirviente
8. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. siervo
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. serviens
10. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. servente
11. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. sirviente
12. ^ 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. sirviente
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 102
14. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 3, 480
15. ^ a b Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1574
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 980
17. ^ a b c d Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 919
18. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. sirviente
19. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. sirviente