service
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈsɜː.vɪs/
ipa: /ˈsɝ.vɪs/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)vɪs
Forms: form: services
form: seruice
Etymology: From Middle English servise, from Old English serfise, 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.
Senses: examples: text: I say I did him a service by ending our relationship – now he can freely pursue his career.
text: The Parliament for ever cries more money, / The service of the state demands more money. / Just heaven! of what service is the state?
ref: 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:
text: 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.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter IV, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
glosses: An act of being of assistance to someone.
examples: text: Lancelot was at the service of King Arthur.
text: 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.’
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XX”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 33:
glosses: The state of being subordinate to or employed by an individual or group.
examples: text: Thank you for your service.
synonyms: military service
qualifier: elliptical
glosses: Work as a member of the military.
examples: text: Hair care is a service industry.
text: The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",[...]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention.
ref: 2013 June 21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 27:
topics: economics
sciences
glosses: The practice of providing assistance as economic activity.
topics: business
glosses: Synonym of utility (“commodity provided on a continuous basis by a physical infrastructure network, such as electricity, water supply or sewerage”).
synonyms: word: utility
extra: commodity provided on a continuous basis by a physical infrastructure network, such as electricity, water supply or sewerage
glosses: A department in a company, organization, or institution.
examples: text: This machine provides the name service for the LAN.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: A function that is provided by one program or machine for another.
examples: text: the service
text: I did three years in the service before coming here.
glosses: The military.
raw_tags: with the
examples: text: She brought out the silver tea service.
text: When their lavish fiestas ended they threw the silver service and even golden vessels from their balconies to be picked up by lucky passersby.
ref: 1997, Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, Monthly Review Press, page 36:
glosses: A set of dishes or utensils.
examples: text: The player had four service faults in the set.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: The act of initially starting, or serving, the ball in play in tennis, volleyball, and other games.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
text: The funerary service was touching.
glosses: A religious rite or ritual.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1668 July 3, James Dalrymple, “Thomas Rue contra Andrew Houſtoun” in The Deciſions of the Lords of Council & Seſſion I (Edinburgh, 1683), page 548
text: The service happened yesterday.
topics: law
glosses: The serving, or delivery, of a summons or writ.
qualifier: West Bank; Lebanon and Syria; West Bank; Lebanon and Syria
glosses: A taxi shared among unrelated passengers, each of whom pays part of the fare; often, it has a fixed route between cities.
raw_tags: in Jordan
glosses: A musical composition for use in churches.
examples: text: Pray, do my service to his majesty.
ref: 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]:
glosses: Profession of respect; acknowledgment of duty owed.
topics: nautical
transport
glosses: The materials used for serving a rope, etc., such as spun yarn and small lines.
glosses: Access to resources such as hotel rooms and Web-based videos without transfer of the resources' ownership.
Hyponyms: accept service
advisory service
all-up service
alternative service
answering service
bond service
bus replacement service
church service
civilian service
civil service
client service
community service
curb service
customer service
debt service
denture service
dinner service
diplomatic service
disservice
divine service
ecological service
emergency service
escort service
extension service
eyeservice
fanservice
food service
foreign service
health service
ill service
intelligence service
memorial service
micro service
military service
mobile service
national service
necrological service
online service
personal service
postal service
power service
prayer service
public service
rail replacement service
room service
Secret Service
secret service
selective service
shared service
silent service
silver service
social service
stopping service
streaming service
substituted service
suit service
table service
tea service
time service
Web service
wire service
yeoman's service
Coordinate terms: topics: economics
sciences
business
word: good
Derived terms: accessorial service
active service
address verification service
ancillary travel services
antiservice
API service symbol
API Service Symbol
at someone's service
at your service
bioservice
bord service
bottle service
bulletin board service
Cinderella service
civil-service
command and service module
craft service
craft services
curbside service
cyberservice
denial of service
denial-of-service attack
denial of services
diaper service
digital service provider
directory service
domain name service
domestic service
eco-service
ecoservice
emergency medical service
emergency services
enterprise service bus
e-service
exposed services
ex-service
extra service
eye-service
eye service
fan service
fee-for-service
fire service
flower service
foodservice
full-service
full service
goods and services tax
heart-service
human services
in-service
in service
inservice
integrated services digital network
internet service provider
interservice
intraservice
jury service
knight-service
knight service
lip service
lip-service
logbook service
long service leave
megaservice
metaservice
microservice
misservice
monoservice
multiservice
nappy service
non-military service
nonservice
off service
onion service
online service provider
operational service period
order of service
out-of-service
out of service
overservice
payment service
plain old telephone service
point of service
police service
postservice
pre-service
preservice
press into service
preventive service
pseudoservice
public service announcement
quality of service
religious service
reservice
road service
rough service light
second-mile service
second service
security service
self-service
servibar
service academy
service agreement
service animal
service area
service as a software substitute
serviceberry
service berry
service-berry
service book
service box
service break
service bureau
service call
service cap
service ceiling
service center
service charge
service cleaner
service club
service contract
service course
service court
service design package
service dog
service door
service drop
service economy
service elevator
service fee
service game
service hat
service industry
service item
service journalism
service-learning
serviceless
service level
service level agreement
service life
service lift
servicelike
service line
service loop
service magazine
serviceman
service mark
servicemark
service media
servicemember
service member
service module
service of an heir
service of process
service-oriented
service-oriented architecture
service pack
serviceperson
service pipe
service pistol
service plaza
service provider
service record
service revolver
service road
servicescape
service set identifier
serviceshed
service station
service stripe
service top
service wall
service water
servicewoman
service worker
servicification
servitization
sewer service
short message service
social services
software as a service
special service request
special service requirement
subservice
suit and service
sunrise service
teleservice
terms of service
toilet service
transportation network vehicle service
triservice
uniformed service
unservice
unserviced
value-added service
white-glove service
wild service tree
wrap service
yeoman service
Related terms: service à la française
service à la russe