servil

Forms

servil m or f (plural servis)^[1] The 15th-century spellings are servil, servill and seruil.^[2] Bluteau writes servîl, with the plural servîs.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin servīlis (“of a slave”), recorded from the 15th century.^[2][1] Nascentes calls it a learned word.^[4] Cunha dates the adjective only to the 16th century, but notes that the adverb servilmente already appears in the 14th.^[5] The same Latin adjective is Spanish servil, Galician servil, Catalan servil, French servile and Italian servile.^[1][6]

In Latin the adjective is formed from servus (“slave”) with the suffix -īlis, and it is recorded as early as the Twelve Tables.^[7][8] Wiktionary traces the noun to Proto-Italic *serwos (“guardian”) and Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo-s, possibly from a root meaning "to watch over, protect".^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record is from the 15th century, in the slips of Cunha's index of medieval Portuguese; the first sense he gives is "relating to or belonging to a serf".^[2] Bluteau (1712–1728) defines it as what is proper to the servant or slave, and sets obra servil, manual work, against liberal work: the obras servîs forbidden on Sundays and holy days are the mechanical ones, such as ploughing, digging, weaving and sewing, while studying, writing, fencing and painting are allowed.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the condition of the slave the word moved to the character imputed to it: Morais (1813) already has "proper to the baseness and vileness of the servant or slave", with the example o furtar he de gente servil "stealing belongs to servile people".^[9] From there came the figurative senses "base, ignoble" and "fawning, subservient".^[2][10] In literature it is said of a translation or copy that follows its model too closely.^[2][11] Vieira (1871–1874) quotes an older author who calls the mechanical arts servile and mercenary.^[12] The noun servilismo "servility" is recorded from 1836.^[13]

Timeline

• 14th century – the adverb servilmente.^[5]
• 15th century – first record of servil, servill and seruil.^[2]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau explains the obras servîs forbidden on holy days.^[3]
• 1755 – Folqman glosses it with Latin servilis.^[14]
• 1813 – Morais has the sense "base, vile".^[9]
• 1836 – first record of servilismo.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to a serf or slave, or proper to that condition: o trabalho servil dos camponeses.^[2][11][15]
2. (figurative) Base, ignoble, vile.^[2][11][10]
3. (figurative) Excessively compliant; fawning, subservient: um empregado servil diante do chefe.^[2][11][16]
4. Following a model or original too closely: uma imitação servil.^[2][11][17]
5. (theology) Of work: forbidden on Sundays and holy days.^[2][11][3]

Word family

• servilmente
• servilismo

Related words

• servir
• servo
• Latin servīlis
• Spanish servil

Usage notes

Porto Editora lists a separate old noun servilha "leather shoe", from Spanish servilla.^[17] The DLE derives the Spanish word from Latin servilia "(sandals) of slaves", the neuter plural of the same Latin adjective, through Mozarabic.^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. servil
3. ^ a b c d Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. servîl
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. servil
5. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. servil
6. ^ 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. servil
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. servīlis
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 694
10. ^ a b Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. servil
11. ^ a b c d e f Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. servil
12. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 511
13. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. servilismo
14. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. servil
15. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. servil
16. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. servil
17. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8450
18. ^ 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. servilla