Where does “listserver” come from?

listserver (English) comes from English server, from English serve, from French servir, from German servieren, from Italian servire, from Spanish servir, from Latin serviō, from Latin servus — to flow; to guard; to bind, to tie together.

listserver (English): A server that distributes messages to members of...

Definitions

  1. A server that distributes messages to members of...

Ancestry of “listserver”, step by step

listserver traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English server

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishserverA program that provides services to other...
2EnglishserveAn act of putting the ball or shuttlecock in play...
3Frenchservirto serve; to be used for; to be useful for...
4Germanservierento serve (food); to wait (at table)
5Italianservireto serve; to need; to plate
6Spanishservirto serve; to be of use, to be good for; to help...
7Latinserviōto be a slave to; to serve
8Latinservusa servant; a serf; a slave
9Proto-Italicserwosguardian
10Proto-Indo-Europeanser-wo-sguardian
11Proto-Indo-Europeanser-to flow; to guard; to bind, to tie together

via English List

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishListA strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth
2Frenchlistelist
3Germanlīstelist
4Italianlistalist, pile; strip, stripe; inflection of...
5Old High Germanlīsta
6Proto-Germaniclīstōn

Words derived from “listserver

Every word from Proto-Indo-European ser-