service

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the performance of duties by a waiter or servant

   that restaurant has excellent service

2. 2
   noun

   the act of delivering a writ or summons upon someone

   They accepted service of the subpoena.

3. 3
   noun

   work done by one person or group that benefits another

   budget separately for goods and services

4. 4
   noun

   employment in or work for another

   I retired from the post office after 30 years of service.

5. 5
   noun

   the act of public worship following prescribed rules

   the Sunday service

6. 6
   noun

   an act of help or assistance

   They did them a service.

7. 7
   verb

   make fit for use

   service my truck

8. 8
   noun

   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.

Etymology

From Middle English servise, from Old English serfis, from Old French servise (French service), from the verb servir, from Latin servitium (compare Portuguese serviço, Italian servizio, Norman sèrvice, Spanish servicio), from servus (“servant; serf; slave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser-wo-s (“guardian”), possibly from *ser- (“watch over, protect”). Displaced native Old English þeġnung.