servire Italian · revision 37748

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 12th century, Ritmo cassinese|origins=ine-pro *ser-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /serˈvi.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''servire''' (first-person singular present sèrvo, first-person singular past historic servìi, past participle servìto, auxiliary (transitive or intransitive, in the meaning "to serve") avére or (in the intransitive meanings "to be useful/necessary") èssere)^(Wiktionary)

+ The oldest recorded form is [[roa-oit|serbire]], in the Ritmo cassinese.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|serviō|t=to be a slave, to serve]], a verb formed from [[m|la|servus|t=slave]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)^(Devoto 1968) The same verb is [[fr|servir]], [[oc|servir]], [[ca|servir]], [[es|servir]] and [[pt|servir]], [[sc|servire]], [[rm|servir]] and [[fur|servî]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)

+

+ De Vaan, following Rix, takes the Latin noun back to a Proto-Italic word for a guardian or shepherd, from [[ine-pro|*ser-u-o-|t=guardian]], with a root also found in [[ae|haraiti|t=heeds, protects]]; the sense “slave” would have developed in Italy between about 700 and 450 BC.^(de Vaan 2008) The verb then first meant “to be a slave”, while the related [[m|la|servō|t=to watch over, keep]] comes from an older noun meaning “watch, heed”.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ The sporting sense, “to put the ball into play” in tennis, follows the English verb [[m|en|serve]].^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first record is the form ''serbire'' in the Ritmo cassinese, a poem of the late 12th century, in the sense “to work for someone, to wait on someone”: ''serbire, se·mme dingi commandare'' (“to serve, if you deign to command me”).^(DELI 1999)^(GDLI|18, 768) The form ''servire'' appears in Garzo, about 1225.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense of serving as a soldier is recorded in the 13th century, and those of worshipping God and of bringing food to the table before 1342, in Domenico Cavalca.^(DELI 1999) Boccaccio in 1353 uses it for being of use to others, and, from before 1459 it is also intransitive, “to be useful, to be needed”, which takes the auxiliary ''essere''.^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)

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+ The shopkeeper's sense, “to attend to a customer”, is recorded from 1760–1761 in Gasparo Gozzi, and Manzoni's ''I promessi sposi'' (1825–1827) has it for supplying a regular customer.^(DELI 1999) The reflexive ''servirsi'' “to make use of” dates from 1549 and “to help oneself at table” from 1855.^(DELI 1999) The tennis and table-tennis sense was described in the ''Enciclopedia italiana'' in 1937.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Old Italian also used the infinitive as a noun, ''il servire'' “service, servitude”, as in Iacopone.^(GDLI|18, 775) French ''servir'' gave ''serviette'', which came back into Italian as ''salvietta''.^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Serbire'' appears in the Ritmo cassinese.^(DELI 1999)

+ * c. 1225 – Garzo uses the form ''servire''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it for worshipping God and for serving food at table.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1353 – Boccaccio uses it for being of use to others.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1459 – Saint Antoninus has the intransitive sense “to be useful”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1549 – The reflexive ''servirsi'' “to make use of” is recorded in Giovan Battista Gelli.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1760–1761 – Gasparo Gozzi uses it of shopkeepers serving customers.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1937 – The ''Enciclopedia italiana'' describes ''servire'' in tennis and table tennis.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(transitive)'' To [[m|en|serve]] someone, working under their authority or in their household: ''Ha servito quella famiglia per trent'anni.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To work for an institution, the state or a cause, ''servire la patria'', to do military service, and ''servire messa'', to assist the priest at Mass.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # To bring food or drink to the table and hand it round: ''Il cameriere serve il primo.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # In a shop or bar, to attend to a [[m|en|customer]]; also to have someone as a regular customer.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Treccani 2011)

+ # Of a public service, to provide for an area: ''La linea due serve i quartieri a nord.''^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(sports)'' In tennis and similar games, to put the ball into play.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(intransitive, with essere)'' To be useful, to be needed: ''Mi serve una penna.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[servitore]]

+ * [[servente]]

+ * [[servito]]

+ * [[inserviente]]

+ * [[servitorame]]

+ * [[servibile]]

+ * [[disservire]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[serva]]

+ * [[servile]]

+ * [[servitù]]

+ * [[servizio]]

+ * [[servo]]

+ * [[salvietta]]

+ * [[la|servus]]

+ * [[fr|servir]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the sense “to be useful, to be needed” the verb takes ''essere'' (''mi è servito''); in its transitive senses and when it means “to serve someone” it takes ''avere''.^(Wiktionary) The reflexive ''servirsi di'' means “to make use of”, and ''servirsi'' alone at table means “to help oneself”.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

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+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}