servus

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Bavarian

Alternative forms

Etymology

An ellipsis from the commoners’ greeting once said to feudal lords, "servus humillimus (Domine spectabilis)", in Latin meaning "(I am a) most humble servant, (O) noble lord".

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈse̞ɐ̯vus/, /ˈse̞ɐ̯βus/
  • Hyphenation: ser‧vus

Interjection

servus

  1. (informal) hello, hi
  2. (informal) bye, goodbye

Derived terms

Czech

Alternative forms

Etymology

The greeting evolved by the commoners greeting their lords with the words servus humillimus, Domine spectabilis, meaning your humble servant, my noble lord. No subservience is implied in its modern use.

Pronunciation

Interjection

servus

  1. (colloquial) hi, hiya
    Synonym: ahoj
  2. (colloquial) cheerio, bye, so long, ta-ta
    Synonym: ahoj

Further reading

  • servus in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • servus in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Esperanto

Verb

servus

  1. conditional of servi

German

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

An ellipsis from the commoners’ greeting once said to feudal lords, "servus humillimus (Domine spectabilis)", in Latin meaning "(I am a) most humble servant, (O) noble lord".

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈsɛrvus/ ~ IPA(key): /ˈzɛɐ̯vus/
  • Audio(file)

Interjection

servus

  1. (chiefly Southern Germany, Austria, informal) hello, hi
  2. (chiefly Southern Germany, Austria, informal) goodbye, bye, farewell
  3. (as a toast) cheers

Usage notes

  • No subservience is implied in modern use, and the origin of the term is not commonly known. Educated usage may be sincere, jocular or ironic.
  • This salutation is used in Southern Germany and throughout the former Austria-Hungary (see cognates on this page), in varying frequency throughout those areas.
  • Despite the formal origins of the term, its usage is now chiefly, but not exclusively informal; the degree of decorum is dependent on context of region, dialect, class, or even village.

Synonyms

Further reading

  • “servus” in Duden online
  • “servus” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Old Latin servos, from Proto-Italic *serwos (“guardian”), from Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo-s (“guardian”), possibly from *ser- (“watch over, protect”). Cognate with servō, Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌 (haraiti, “he heeds, protects”). By surface analysis, Proto-Indo-European *ser- +‎ -vus.

Pronunciation

Noun

servus m (genitive servī, feminine serva); second declension

  1. a servant
  2. a serf
  3. a slave

Usage notes

  • Until the Augustan period, servos was more common.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative servus servī
Genitive servī servōrum
Dative servō servīs
Accusative servum servōs
Ablative servō servīs
Vocative serve servī

Derived terms

Descendants

See also

References

  • “servus²”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • servus² in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.: “1,432/2”
  • “seruus¹” on page 1,748/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
  • Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976) “servus”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, page 967/2

Adjective

servus (feminine serva, neuter servum); first/second-declension adjective

  1. slavish, servile (to the senses or to authority)
  2. (of lands, buildings) subject or liable to servitude

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative servus serva servum servī servae serva
Genitive servī servae servī servōrum servārum servōrum
Dative servō servō servīs
Accusative servum servam servum servōs servās serva
Ablative servō servā servō servīs
Vocative serve serva servum servī servae serva

References

  • “servus¹”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • servus¹ in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.: “1,432/2”
  • “seruus²” on page 1,748 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

References

  • “servus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • “servus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • servus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to act the rôle of a slave, pander: agere servum, lenonem
    • a good, useful slave: frugi (opp. nequam) servus
    • a degraded, servile condition: infima fortuna or condicio servorum
    • (ambiguous) to examine slaves by torture: de servis quaerere (in dominum)
  • “servus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • “servus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
  1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN

Anagrams

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from German servus. Greeting found throughout the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Pronunciation

Interjection

servus (informal, Transylvania, Maramureș, Bukovina)

  1. hi, hello
  2. see you (later)

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From German servus, ultimately from Latin servus.

Interjection

sèrvus (Cyrillic spelling сѐрвус)

  1. (Croatia, dated) hello
  2. (Croatia, dated) good bye

Synonyms

Slovak

Etymology

The greeting evolved by the commoners greeting their lords with the words servus humillimus, Domine spectabilis, meaning your humble servant, my noble lord. No subservience is implied in its modern use.

Pronunciation

Interjection

servus

  1. hello
  2. hi
  3. howdy

Further reading

  • “servus”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024
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