servulus Latin · revision 33047

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=c. 250–184 BC, Plautus|origins=la servus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈsɛr.wʊ.ɫʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɛr.vu.lus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''servulus''' ''m'' (genitive servulī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|servus|-ulus|t1=slave]], a diminutive, in Old Latin ⟨servolus⟩.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) De Vaan traces [[m|la|servus]] to [[itc-pro|*serwo-|t=shepherd]] and [[ine-pro|*ser-u-o-|t=guardian]], following Rix, who thinks a word for a guard or shepherd took on the sense "slave" in Italy between 700 and 450 BC.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ De Vaan and Köbler date it from Plautus,^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) who uses it in the ''Captivi'', the ''Menaechmi'' and the ''Poenulus''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a young slave or servant boy, often with a sense of contempt for a mere or worthless slave, sometimes without any diminutive force.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Terence and Cicero use it, and Pliny the Younger in his letters.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Apuleius has the genitive plural ''servulum''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) In medieval letters it is a formula of humility, ''your humble servant'', as in a letter of Wealdhere from 705.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 190–159 BC – Terence.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ * 705 – Wealdhere calls himself a humble ''servulus'' in a letter.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A young [[m|en|slave]], servant boy; a mere or worthless slave.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' A humble [[m|en|servant]], in formulas of self-abasement.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[servus]]

+ * [[serva]]

+ * [[servitium]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}