SERVILELY

obsequiously, subserviently, servilely

(adverb) in an obsequious manner; “she acts obsequiously toward her boss”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Adverb

servilely (comparative more servilely, superlative most servilely)

In a servile way; fawningly.

Source: Wiktionary


Serv"ile*ly, adv.

Definition: In a servile manner; slavishly.

SERVILE

Serv"ile, a. Etym: [L. servile, fr. servus a servant or slave: cf. F. servile. See Serve.]

1. Of or pertaining to a servant or slave; befitting a servant or a slave; proceeding from dependence; hence, meanly submissive; slavish; mean; cringing; fawning; as, servile flattery; servile fear; servile obedience. She must bend the servile knee. Thomson. Fearing dying pays death servile breath. Shak.

2. Held in subjection; dependent; enslaved. Even fortune rules no more, O servile land! Pope.

3. (Gram.) (a) Not belonging to the original root; as, a servile letter. (b) Not itself sounded, but serving to lengthen the preceeding vowel, as e in tune.

Serv"ile, n. (Gram.)

Definition: An element which forms no part of the original root; -- opposed to radical.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

4 April 2025

GUILLOTINE

(verb) kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine; “The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country”


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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