service French · revision 16459

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (servise)|origins=la servus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɛʁ.vis/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''service''' ''m'' (plural services)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|servise]], usual until the 13th century, ''service'' is found from about 1155.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|servitium|t=slavery; the slaves, (Church Latin) office]], from [[m|la|servus|t=slave]], the source of [[serf]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|11, 544a) Medieval Latin had given it both a legal sense, the duties of a vassal to his lord, and a religious one; many later senses come from [[servir]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Compare [[it|servizio]], [[es|servicio]] and [[pt|serviço]].^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) ''servise'' is the whole of one's duties to God; in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) it is also a vassal's service to his lord: ''Carles comandet que face sun servise'' (“Charles commands that I do my service”).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The religious sense gave the funeral service (about 1150), the ''service du bout de l'an'' (1690) and ''service funèbre'' (1876).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The duties owed to the state appear in the ''Chanson de Roland''; military obligations are ''services'' in 1270, ''service public'' is in Montaigne (1580), and ''service militaire'' is recorded in 1720 and made an institution in 1798.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Être de service'' “on duty” dates from 1671.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Chrétien de Troyes (about 1170) uses it for a servant's duties, and about 1175 for a set of dishes brought to the table, ''faire le service'' at table is from the early 13th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Rendre un mauvais service'' goes back to the ''Chanson de Roland'', while ''rendre service'' is from 1610 (Honoré d'Urfé).^(DHLF 1992) ''Qu'y a-t-il pour votre service ?'' is found in 1792, and ''mettre en service'' (of a machine) in 1883.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Servise'', duties to God, in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – A vassal's service, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1155 – The form ''service'', in Wace.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1175 – A set of dishes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1270 – Military obligations.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – ''Service public'' in Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1610 – ''Rendre service''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1798 – ''Service militaire'' made an institution.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(religion)'' A [[m|en|service]], office: ''service funèbre''.^(Le Robert)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Military service: ''faire son service''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Service to the community: ''service public''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Duty: ''être de service''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Employment as a servant: ''entrer au service de quelqu'un'', ''escalier de service''.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+ # Serving at table; the service charge: ''service compris''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A sitting (of a meal): ''premier service''.^(TLFi)

+ # A [[m|en|favour]]: ''rendre service''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # A set of tableware: ''service à café''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # A department: ''service clientèle''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # Operation: ''mise en service'', ''hors service''.^(BHVF)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(tennis)'' [[m|en|serve|alt=Serve]].^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Switzerland, plural)'' [[m|en|cutlery]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[servir]]

+ * [[servant]]

+ * [[serf]]

+ * [[servitude]]

+ * [[la|servitium]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}