Czech

Interjection

servus, rarely serbus

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

Esperanto

Verb

servus

1. conditional of servi

German

Etymology

The greeting evolved from the commoners’ greeting (said to lords) servus humillimus (Domine spectabilis), meaning your most humble servant, my noble Lord. No subservience is implied in modern use.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛrvus/ ~ IPA^(key): /ˈzɛɐvus/

Interjection

servus

1. hello, hi
2. goodbye, bye
3. (as a toast) cheers

Latin

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

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?

Declension

Second declension.

Derived terms

• serviō
• servitūdō
• servitūs
• servulus
• servus Deī (Ecclesiastical)
• servus servōrum Deī (Ecclesiastical)

Related terms

• sclavus
• serva

Descendants

References

• servus² in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “servus²”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette, page 1,432/2.
• “seruus¹” on page 1,748/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
• “servus” on page 967/2 of Jan Frederik Niermeyer’s Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus (1976)

Adjective

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

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

Declension

First/second declension.

References

• servus¹ in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “servus¹”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette, page 1,432/2.
• “seruus²” on page 1,748 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

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)
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (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

1. ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill

Romanian

Interjection

servus (informal, Transylvania, Maramureș, Bukovina)

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

Serbo-Croatian

Alternative forms

• serbus

Etymology

From German servus, ultimately from Latin servus.

Interjection

sèrvus

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

Synonyms

• bok, ćao, zdravo

Slovak

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. hello
2. hi
3. howdy