Etymology

self-serving

Today it means: Showing interest only in oneself (pursuing self-interest to the exclusion of other goals). Full definition →

English serving ← Middle English self- ← Old English self-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*swé?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*selbʰ-
  3. Proto-Germanic*selbaz
  4. Old Englishself
  5. Old Englishself-
  6. Middle Englishself-
  7. Englishself-
  8. Englishserving
  9. English todayself-serving

From self- + serving.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.