servitus Latin · revision 10085
17 Oct 2026, 01:38 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *ser-}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈsɛr.wɪ.tuːs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈsɛr.vi.tus]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''servitūs''' ''f'' (genitive servitūtis); third declension^(Wiktionary)
+ The genitive plural is regularly ''servitūtium''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[af|la|servus|-tūs|t1=slave]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan traces ⟨servus⟩ to [[itc-pro|*serwo-|t=shepherd]], [[ine-pro|*ser-wo-|t=guardian]], and reports Rix's view that “guardian, shepherd” turned pejoratively into “slave” in Italy between about 700 and 450 BC.^(de Vaan 2008)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citation is Plautus, of slavery.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant the condition of a slave, slavery, bondage, servitude, as in Plautus, Cicero and Caesar; from Cato political subjection; and in law, from Cicero, a servitude, an easement, a liability on a property giving others certain rights over it.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)
+
+ Medieval Latin used it for forms of personal dependence other than serfdom, and for vassalage.^(Niermeyer 1976) British Medieval Latin used it for slavery and serfdom, and for service to God.^(DMLBS) It survives as Spanish ''servitud'' and Italian ''servitù''.^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of political subjection.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it as a legal term.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Noun===
+ # [[m|en|slavery|alt=Slavery]], [[m|en|bondage]], [[m|en|servitude]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ # Political subjection.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(law)'' An [[m|en|easement]], a servitude on property.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|vassalage|alt=Vassalage]]; serfdom.^(Niermeyer 1976)^(DMLBS)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[serva]]
+ * [[serviō]]
+ * [[servus]]
+ * [[servīlis]]
+ * [[servitium]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}