English
service
see also: Service
Pronunciation
  • (RP) IPA: /ˈsɜːvɪs/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈsɝvɪs/
Etymology 1

From Middle English servise, from Old French servise (French service), from the verb servir, from Latin servitium (compare Portuguese serviço, Italian servizio, nrf sèrvice, Spanish servicio), from servus ("servant; serf; slave"), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European , possibly from *ser- ("watch over, protect").

Noun

service

  1. An act of being of assistance to someone.
    I say I did him a service by ending our relationship – now he can freely pursue his career.
    • 1794, Robert Southey, Wat Tyler. A Dramatic Poem. In Three Acts, London: J[ohn] M‘Creery, […] for Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, […], published 1817, →OCLC ↗, Act I, page 7 ↗:
      The Parliament for ever cries more money, / The service of the state demands more money. / Just heaven! of what service is the state?
    • 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC ↗:
      Then he commenced to talk, really talk. and inside of two flaps of a herring's fin he had me mesmerized, like Eben Holt's boy at the town hall show. He talked about the ills of humanity, and the glories of health and Nature and service and land knows what all.
  2. The state of being subordinate to or employed by an individual or group.
    Lancelot was at the service of King Arthur.
    • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto XX, page 33 ↗:
      The lesser griefs that may be said, / ⁠That breathe a thousand tender vows, / ⁠Are but as servants in a house / Where lies the master newly dead; / Who speak their feeling as it is, / ⁠And weep the fulness from the mind: / ⁠‘It will be hard’ they say ‘to find / Another service such as this.’
  3. Work as a member of the military.
    Thank you for your service.
  4. (economics) The practice of providing assistance as economic activity.
    Hair care is a service industry.
  5. (business) Synonym of utility.
  6. A department in a company, organization, or institution.
  7. (computing) A function that is provided by one program or machine for another.
    This machine provides the name service for the LAN.
  8. The military.
    I did three years in the service before coming here.
  9. A set of dishes or utensils.
    She brought out the silver tea service.
  10. (sports) The act of initially starting, or serving, the ball in play in tennis, volleyball, and other games.
    The player had four service faults in the set.
  11. A religious rite or ritual.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
      Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.
    The funeral service was touching.
  12. (legal) The serving, or delivery, of a summons or writ.
    • 1668 July 3, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 548 ↗:
      He Suſpends on theſe Reaſons, that Thomas Rue had granted a general Diſcharge to Adam Muſhet, who was his Conjunct, and correus debendi, after the alleadged Service, which Diſcharged Muſhet, and conſequently Houstoun his Partner.
    The service happened yesterday.
  13. (Israel, West Bank, also in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria) A taxi shared among unrelated passengers, each of whom pays part of the fare; often, it has a fixed route between cities.
  14. A musical composition for use in churches.
  15. (obsolete) Profession of respect; acknowledgment of duty owed.
    • 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene i]:
      Pray, do my service to his majesty.
  16. (nautical) The materials used for serving a rope, etc., such as spun yarn and small lines.
  17. Access to resources such as hotel rooms and Web-based videos without transfer of the resources' ownership.
Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of “economics”): capital
Related terms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

service (services, present participle servicing; simple past and past participle serviced)

  1. (transitive) To serve.
    They service the customer base.
    1. (transitive) To perform maintenance.
      He is going to service the car.
    2. (public relations, transitive) To supply (media outlets) with press releases etc.
      • 1977, Patricia Marshall, Citizen Participation Certification for Community Development, page 107:
        One obvious way is press releases, which should be sent to your region's reporters, editors and columnists, the wire services, professional publications. […] Servicing the media should be an everyday thing.
  2. (transitive, agriculture, euphemistic) To inseminate through sexual intercourse.
  3. (transitive, vulgar) To perform a sexual act upon.
    He serviced her several times a week.
  4. (transitive, military, euphemism) To attack.
    to service a target; target servicing
Synonyms Translations Translations Etymology 2

Properly, the tree that bears sorb fruit, from Middle English serves, plural of serve, from Old English syrfe, from Vulgar Latin *sorbea, from Latin sorbus.

Noun

service (plural services)

  1. Service tree.
  2. The sorb; the fruit of this tree.
Service
Proper noun
  1. Surname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Crawford County, Missouri.


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