servus

Alternative forms

• serbus (rare)

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.

Interjection

servus

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

Further reading

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

Verb

servus

1. conditional of servi

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. (ibid.) 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.
• Usage of the salutation in German, as well as nearby languages like Hungarian, Slovakian, and Romanian, roughly corresponds to the former borders of Austria-Hungary.
• 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.

Further reading

• servus in Duden online

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo- (“guardian”), possibly from *ser- (“to bind, put together”). Cognate with Avestan 𐬵𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌‎ (haraiti, “he heeds, protects”).^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈser.wus/, [ˈsɛr.wʊs]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈser.vus/

• Audio (Classical)

  (file)

Noun

servus m (genitive servī); second declension

1. a servant
2. a serf
3. a slave
   • Captivi ("the captives") by Plautus (English and Latin text)

     Quem patrem, qui servos est?

     Father! What do you mean, when he’s a slave?

Adjective

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

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

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, 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

Etymology

Borrowed from German servus. Greeting found in many Central European languages.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈser.vus/

Interjection

servus (informal, Transylvania, Maramureș, Bukovina)

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

Alternative forms

• serbus

Etymology

From German servus, ultimately from Latin servus.

Interjection

sèrvus (Cyrillic spelling сѐрвус)

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

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

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛrvus/

Interjection

servus

1. hello
2. hi
3. howdy

Further reading

• servus in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk