self-serve

adjective

Describing a facility in which the customer performs the work rather than being waited on.

“Self-serve gas stations are popular with owners because they need fewer attendants.”

Similar
serve-selfself-service
Opposite
full-service
OriginEnglish serve ← Middle English serven ← Old French servir →
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Meanings

adjectiveself-serve (not comparable)
  1. not comparableDescribing a facility in which the customer performs the work rather than being waited on.

    Self-serve gas stations are popular with owners because they need fewer attendants.

    Synonyms: serve-self, self-service · Antonyms: full-service

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveDescribing a facility in which the customer performs the work rather than being waited on.

Similar
serve-selfself-service
Opposite
full-service
Also see
serve-self

Origin

  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. Proto-Indo-European*ser-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*serwos
  10. Proto-Indo-European*serweyéti
  11. Proto-Italic*serwijeti
  12. Proto-Italic*serwijit
  13. Proto-Italic*serwiō
  14. Latinserviō
  15. Old Frenchservir
  16. Middle Englishserven
  17. Englishserve
  18. Englishself-serve

From self- + serve.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Hungarian önkiszolgáló
  • önkiszolgálóTranslations
Polish samoobsługowy
  • samoobsługowyTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

self-serve. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-serve

MLA

“self-serve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-serve. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “self-serve,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/self-serve.

Source: self-serve on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.