Where does “disservice” come from?
Disservice comes from Middle English servise, from Latin servitium (service), with the prefix dis- (expressing negation or reversal) added in English to create the sense of a harmful or unhelpful action contrary to service itself.
disservice (English): Service that results in harm; an unhelpful,...
Definitions
- Service that results in harm; an unhelpful,...
Ancestry of “disservice”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | service | An act of being of assistance to someone; The... |
| 2 | Middle English | servise | service; servitude; vasselage |
| 3 | Old English | serfis | service |
| 4 | Old French | servise | service; servitude; vasselage; church service |
| 5 | Latin | servitium | slavery, servitude; slaves; service |
| 6 | Latin | -itia | -ness, -ity |
| 7 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 8 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |