deserve

B1 Topic:Actions & Processes

Also spelled desarve

US /dɪˈzɝv/ UK /dɪˈzɜːv/ See IPA manual

verb Freq #1348

Meanings

1

verb
To be worthy of something good or bad because of how you have acted.

You deserve a holiday after all your hard work.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to be worthy of something... merit earn

More brook garner reap win

Opposites

undeserve

Word family

Forms deserveddeservesdeserving

Derived forms deservantdeservelessdeserverundeserveundeserverwell-deserved

Related forms desert receive

Common collocations

deserve a mention Verb + noun

Etymology

From Middle English deserven, from Old French deservir, from Latin dēserviō, from dē- + serviō.

*ser- (guard) Proto-Indo-European deserven Middle English deservir Old French dēserviō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

# deserve

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** dɪˈzɝv
**IPA (UK):** dɪˈzɜːv
**Frequency rank:** 1348

## Meanings
1. To be worthy of something good or bad because of how you have acted.

## Examples
- You deserve a holiday after all your hard work.

## Synonyms
- brook
- earn
- garner
- merit
- reap
- win

## Antonyms
- undeserve

## Derived Forms
- deservant
- deserveless
- deserver
- undeserve
- undeserver
- well-deserved

## Related Forms
- desert
- receive

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *ser- (guard)
- Root: deserven
- Root: deservir
- Root: dēserviō

## Etymology
From Middle English deserven, from Old French deservir, from Latin dēserviō, from dē- + serviō.

## AI Etymology
deserve comes from Middle English deserven, from Old French deservir, from Latin dēserviō, from dē- + serviō. The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *ser- (guard), Middle English deserven, Old French deservir, Latin dēserviō. The current sense is to be worthy of something good or bad because of how you have acted. English relatives and later formations include deservant, deserveless, deserver, desert, receive.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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