Where does “service” come from?
Service comes from Middle English servise, from Old French servise, from Latin servitium, derived from Latin servire meaning "to serve," ultimately from Latin servus meaning "slave" and Proto-Indo-European ser-.
service (English): An act of being of assistance to someone; The...
Definitions
- An act of being of assistance to someone; The...
Ancestry of “service”, step by step
service traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English servise
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | servise | service; servitude; vasselage |
| 2 | Old English | serfis | service |
| 3 | Old French | servise | service; servitude; vasselage; church service |
| 4 | Latin | servitium | slavery, servitude; slaves; service |
| 5 | Latin | -itia | -ness, -ity |
| 6 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 7 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |
via Latin sorbus
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | sorbus | sorb; service tree; "Sorbus domestica" |