server 
distributing articles of food at the table, differing from the 
ordinary implement, such as spoon or fork : as, an oyster- 
server; an asparagus-serner. (ct) A conduit. 
They . . . derived rilles and servers of water into every 
street. Holland, tr. of Caniden, p. 248. (Danes.) 
Servetian (sr-ve'shan), H. [< Serretus (see 
def.) + -iViii.] A follower of Servetus (died 
1553), who maintained substantially the views 
regarding the nature of Christ afterward known 
as Norhiutiiixm. [Rare.] 
serviablet, Same as serviceable. Cath. Aug., 
P. :$3l. 
Servian (ser'vi-an), a. and . [< NL. Servia (F. 
.sViT/e = Gt. SerKien = Buss. Serbiya ; < E. Serb 
= F. Serbe = Gr. Serbe = Russ. Scrbii, < Serv. 
AV'i, a Servian) 4- -tan.] I. a. Pertaining or 
belonging to Servia, a kingdom of Europe, situ- 
ated south of the Austrian empire, and former- 
ly subject to Turkey; pertaining to the Ser- 
vians or to their language. 
II. . 1. A native or an inhabitant of Servia ; 
a member of a branch of the Slavic race dwell- 
ing in Servia : the term is applied by extension 
to inhabitants of Bosnia, Herzegovina, Monte- 
negro, Croatia, etc., allied in race and language 
to the inhabitants of Servia. 2. A Slavic lan- 
guage spoken in Servia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, 
Montenegro, Dalmatia, Croatia, etc. The dialect 
spoken in Croatia is often called Croatian, Servian being 
restricted to the other dialects ; the whole group of dia- 
lects is sometimes called Serbo-Croatian. Abbreviated 
Sen. 
Also Serbian. 
service 1 (ser'vis), . [Early mod. E. (and dial.) 
also sarrice; < ME. service, servycc, servise, ser- 
vyse, < OF. servise, service, F. service = Pr. ser- 
visi = Sp. serricio = Pg. servigo = It. sercizio, < 
L. sercitium, ML. also servicium, service, servi- 
tude, < servire, serve: see serve 1 .} 1. The act 
of serving, or attendance, in any sense; the 
rendering of duty to another; obedience; the 
performance of any office or labor for another. 
As glad, as humble, as bisy in servyse, 
And eek in love, as she was wont to be, 
Was she to him in every maner wyse. 
Chaucer, Clerk's Tale, 1. 549. 
Upon your oath of service to the pope. 
Shak., K. John, v. 1. 23. 
Reason, however able, cool at best, 
Cares not for service, or but serves when press'd. 
Pope, Essay on Man, ill. 86. 
Should this first master claim 
His serrice, whom does it belong to ? him 
Who thrust him out, or him who saved his life ? 
Tennyson, Lover's Tale, iv. 
Specifically 2. Spiritual obedience, rever- 
ence, and love. 
Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, accepta- 
ble unto God, which is your reasonable service. 
Rom. xli. 1. 
God requires no man's service upon hard and unreason- 
able terms. Tillotson, Sermons. 
3. The duty which a tenant owes to a lord for 
his fee : thus, personal service consists in hom- 
age and fealty, etc. ; annual service in rent, suit 
to the court of the lord, etc. ; accidental service* 
in heriots. reliefs, etc. 4. Place or position of 
a servant ; employment as a servant ; state of 
being or acting as a servant; menial employ 
or capacity: as, to be out of service. 
To leave a rich Jew's service, to become 
The follower of so poor a gentleman. 
Shak., M. of V.,li. >. 156. 
To the judge's house shee did enquire, 
And there shee did a service get. 
The Merchant's Daughter (Child's Ballads, IV. 385). 
Answer that ... a poor servant is not to be blamed if 
he strives to better himself ; that service is no inheritance. 
Swift, Advice to Servants (General Directions). 
5. Labor performed for another; assistance 
rendered; obligation conferred; duty done or 
required ; office. 
As thou lovest me, Camillo, wipe not out the rest of thy 
services by leaving me now ; the need I have of thee thine 
own goodness hath made. Shak., W. T., iv. 2. 12. 
He [Temple] did not betray or oppress his country : nay, 
he rendered considerable services to her. 
Macaulay, Sir W. Temple. 
6. Duty performed in, or appropriate to, any 
office or charge ; official function : as, the diplo- 
matic serrice; the consular service; hence, spe-' 
cifically, military or naval duty ; performance 
of the duties of a soldier or sailor; formerly, 
a bold and daring performance of such duties ; 
also, the army or navy as a profession. 
At this day, that Vocation [the esquire's] is growne to be 
the first degree of gentry, taken out of the xerrice in the 
warrs, from whence all the other degrees of nobility are 
borowed. Booke of Precedence (E. E. T. S., extra ser.), i. 38. 
He waylays the reports of services, and cons them with- 
out book, damning himself he came new from them. 
B. Jomon, Every Man out of his Humour, Pref. 
5517 
The best room in the dilapidated house was put at the 
service of the commanding officer of the impress service. 
Mrs. Gaskell, Sylvia's Lovers, xxiii. 
Men in professions of any kind, except the two services, 
could only belong to society by right of birth and family 
connections. W. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 85. 
7. A useful office ; an advantage conferred or 
brought about ; benefit or good performed, done, 
or caused; use; employment. 
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for 
the service of man. Ps. civ. 14. 
I have done the state some service, and they know 't. 
Shak., Othello, v. 2. 339. 
All the vessels of the king's house are not for uses of 
honour ; some be common stuff, and for mean services, yet 
profitable. Spelman. 
Tell Roderick Dhu I owed him naught, 
Not the poor service of a boat, 
To waft me to yon mountain side. 
Scott, L.of the!., ii. 37. 
8. Profession of respect uttered or sent: as, 
my service to you, sir. 
Pray do my service to his majesty. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., iii. 1. 179. 
Pray, give my service to . . . all my friends and acquain- 
tance In general who do ask after me. 
Steele, Tatler, No. 87. 
9. Suit as a lover; professed love. [Archaic.] 
Wel I woot my servyce is in vayn, 
My gerdoun is but brestyng of myn herte. 
Chaucer, Franklin's Tale, 1. 214. 
Has Arthur spoken aught? or would yourself, 
Now weary of my service and devoir, 
Henceforth be truer to your faultless lord? 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
10. Public religious worship and instruction 
conducted according to the forms or methods 
prescribed by ecclesiastical law, precept, or 
custom in any given communion: as, the ser- 
vices for the following week are, etc. 
The congregation was discomposed, and diviue service 
broken off. Watts. 
1 1 . A liturgical form prescribed for public wor- 
ship; also, a form prescribed for public wor- 
ship or ceremonial of some special character; 
an office : as, the marriage service. 
Ther was also a Nonne, a Prioresse, . . . 
Ful wel she song the service divyne. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 122. 
The next daye, Fryday, we went to Mounte Syon to 
masse, and there sayde our seruyce. 
Sir R. Guylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 35. 
On Daya of Fasting and Thanksgiving, . . . the Min- 
ister may appoint such Psalms as he shall think fit, ... 
unless any shall have been appointed by the Ecclesiasti- 
cal Authority in a Service set out for the Occasion. 
Book of Common Prayer. 
We should profane the service of the dead 
To sing a requiem and such rest to her 
As to peace-parted souls. Shak., Hamlet, v. 1. 259. 
12. A full set of musical settings of the con- 
gregational or choral canticles, chants, etc., of 
a liturgy, especially of the Anglican liturgy, it 
does not include metrical hymns or special anthems. The 
full list of parts for the Anglican morning prayer, commu- 
nion office, and evening prayer includes the Venite, Te 
Deum, Benedicite, Benedictus (Dominus), Jubilate, Kyrie, 
Nicene Creed, Sanctus, Agnus, Benedictus (qui venit), 
Gloria in Excelsis, Magnificat, Cantate, Nunc Dimittis, 
and Deus Misereatur ; but all of these are not usually con- 
tained in any one service. 
13. Things required for use ; furniture. Espe- 
cially (a) A set of things required for table use: as, a 
dinner-serpice ; a service of plate. 
A dinner-party [was] given by a certain noble lord, at 
which the whole service was of silver, a silver hot-water 
dish being placed under every plate. 
W. Besant, Fifty Years Ago, p. 120. 
(b) An assortment of table-linen. 
14. That which is served, (a) A course served up 
at table. 
Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable ser- 
vice, two dishes, but to one table ; that 's the end. 
Shak., Hamlet, iv. 3. 26. 
Service is ready to go up, man ; you must slip on your 
coat, and come in ; we lack waiters pitifully. 
B. Jomon, Case is Altered, i. 1. 
The entertainment is of a pretty substantial kind. Be- 
sides tea, there is a service of cheese, of bacon and beef 
fried, etc. Jamieson, Diet, (under rocking). 
(V) The portion served to an individual ; an allowance of 
food or drink. 
And whanne thou seest afore thee thi seruice, 
Be not to hasti upon breed to bite. 
Babees Book(E. E. T. S.), p. 29. 
The women, having eaten, drank, and gossiped sufficient- 
ly, were each presented with "a Service of Sweetmeats, 
which every Gossip carried away in her Handkerchief." 
J. Aihton, Social Life in Reign of Queen Anne, I. & 
With farthing candles, chandeliers of tin, 
And services of water, rum, and gin. 
Chattfrton, Kew Gardens. 
Ill spread your service by the door, 
That when you eat you may behold 
The knights at play where the bowls are rolled. 
R. H. Stoddard, The Squire of Low Degree. 
serviceable 
15. In fair. See serrice of a in-il, etc., below, 
and scree, c. t., 17. 16. In lairii-tetinis, that 
striking of the ball with the racket which 
commences a turn of play; also, the ball thus 
struck: as, he made a swift serrice. 17. The 
small cordage wound round a rope in serving. 
Also serving. 18. That which is supplied or 
furnished ; the act or means of supplying some- 
thing which is in general demand, or of furnish- 
ing specific accommodation : said of transpor- 
tation: as, railway or mail service; cab sen' ire: 
also of the distribution of water and light : as, 
electric-light service. 
A short squat omnibus, . . . which was then the daily 
service between Cloisterhnm and external mankind. 
Dickens, Edwin Drood, vi. 
19. A service-pipe. 
I had taken up about a dozen services when I approached 
one that had been only a comparatively short time in duty. 
Sci. Amer. Supp., p. 9100. 
Active service. See active. At one's service, placed 
at one's disposal ; free for one to use or enjoy. At your 
service, ready to serve you : a phrase of civility. 
I am, sir, a practitioner in panegyric, or, to speak more 
plainly, a professor of the art of puffing, at your service 
or anybody else's. Sheridan, The Critic, i. 2. 
Breakfast-service, a set of utensils required for the 
breakfast-table. Compare dinner-service. Burial, cho- 
ral, church, civil service. See the qualifying words. 
Civil-service reform. See reform. claim in a ser- 
vice. See rfoi7i. Constructive service. See person- 
al service (a), under personal. Covenanted civil ser- 
vice. See civil. Dessert-service. See dessert. Din- 
ner-service, a set of dishes, plates, and other table-uten- 
sils, usually of porcelain or of fine earthenware, sometimes 
of plate, etc., intended for use at the dinner-table. It may 
include what is needed for all the courses of an elaborate 
dinner, but more generally excludes the dessert-service, 
and also the silverware, knives, etc. Divine service. 
See divine. Dry service. See dry mass, under massl. 
Free services. See free. Full service, (a) A setting of 
the musical parts of a church service for a chorus, without 
solos. Compare full anthew, underantAem. (6) A service 
in which music is used as much as possible. General 
service. See service of an heir, below. Harlequin, 
heriot, honorary, life-saving service. See the quali- 
fying words. Lunch-service, a set of the utensils re- 
quired for the lunch-table. Merchant, personal ser- 
vice. See the adjectives. Plain service, in Anglican 
usage, an office which is simply read, sung on one note, or 
pronounced without any musical or choral accompani- 
ment. Predial services. See predial. Preventive 
service. See coast-guard. Real services. Sameaspre- 
dial services. Revenue-cutter service. See revenue. 
Secret service. See secret. Service of an heir, in Scots 
law, & proceeding before a jury for ascertaining and deter- 
mining the heir of a person deceased. It is either general 
or special. A general service determines generally who is 
heir of another ; a special service ascertains who is heir to 
him in respect of particular lands, etc. Service of a 
writ, process, etc., in (air, the communication of it to 
the person concerned in the manner required by law, as 
by delivering It to him, or by reading it to him, or by leav- 
ing an attested copy with him. Service Of the Horn. 
Same as carnage, 1. Service paste. See pastel. Sub- 
stituted service, or service by substitution, a mode 
of serving a process upon a defendant by posting it up in 
some conspicuous or public place, or delivering it to a 
neighboring person, or both: allowed when entrance to 
his dwelling cannot be effected. The phrase is also ap- 
plied to publication and mailing when allowed (as in some 
cases of absence, etc.) as substitutes for personal service. 
Table-service, a set of utensils for the table, of any 
one kind or material : as, a cut-glass table-service, a silver 
table-service, etc., in any case including the articles com- 
monly made of the material in question or required for the 
purpose in question. Tenure by divine service. See 
divine. Three hours' service. See hour. To have 
seen service, (a) To have been in active military or na- 
val service ; to have made campaigns. (6) Figuratively, 
to have been put to hard use or wear. 
If this be a horseman's coat, it hath seen very hot ser- 
vice. Shak., W. T., iv. 3. 71. 
Uncovenanted civil service. See civil. Yeoman's 
service. See yeoman. 
service 2 (ser'vis), n. [An extended form of 
serve 2 , due to some confusion with service 1 : see 
serve 2 . The word has nothing to do, as some 
have supposed, with L.cej-eiiisi'a,beer.] 1. Same 
as service-tree. 2. The fruit of the service-tree. 
October is drawn in a garment of yellow and carnation ; 
in his left hand a basket of services, medlars, and other 
fruits that ripen late. Peacham. 
serviceability (ser"vi-sa-biri-ti), . [< service- 
able + -ity (see -btlity)."] Same as serriceablc- 
ness. [Recent.] 
There are adjustments by which serviceability . . . has 
power still further to improve all adaptations by some pro- 
cess of self-edification. Pop. Sci. Mo., XXXIII. 73. 
serviceable (ser'vi-sa-bl), a. [< ME. servisable, 
serviceable, servysiabylle. < OF. servisable, < ML. 
servidabilis, serving, < L. servitium, ML. also 
servicium, service: see service 1 and -able.} 1. 
Disposed to be of service; willing; diligent; at- 
tentive. 
Curteys he was, lowely and servi/sable. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to ('. T., I. 99. 
The servants [were] not so many in number as cleanly in 
apparel and serviceable In behaviour. 
Sir P. Sidney. Arcadia, i. 
