Etymology

servile

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Today it means: Excessively eager to please; obsequious. Full definition →

Middle English servyle ← Old French servil ← Latin servīlis
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromservīlis
  2. Old French · derived fromservil
  3. Middle English · inherited fromservyle
  4. English todayservile

From Middle English servyle, from Old French servil, servile, from Latin servīlis, from servus (“slave”). By surface analysis, serve + -ile.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.