Serv"ant (?), n. [OE. servant,
servaunt, F. servant, a & p. pr. of servir to
serve, L. servire. See Serve, and cf. Sergeant.]
1. One who serves, or does services, voluntarily
or on compulsion; a person who is employed by another for menial
offices, or for other labor, and is subject to his command; a person
who labors or exerts himself for the benefit of another, his master or
employer; a subordinate helper. "A yearly hired servant."
Lev. xxv. 53.
Men in office have begun to think themselves mere
agents and servants of the appointing power, and not agents of
the government or the country.
D. Webster.
&fist; In a legal sense, stewards, factors, bailiffs, and other
agents, are servants for the time they are employed in such
character, as they act in subordination to others. So any person may
be legally the servant of another, in whose business, and under whose
order, direction, and control, he is acting for the time being.
Chitty.
2. One in a state of subjection or
bondage.
Thou wast a servant in the land of
Egypt.
Deut. v. 15.
3. A professed lover or suitor; a
gallant. [Obs.]
In my time a servant was I one.
Chaucer.
Servant of servants, one debased to the
lowest condition of servitude. -- Your humble
servant, or Your obedient servant,
phrases of civility often used in closing a letter.
Our betters tell us they are our humble
servants, but understand us to be their slaves.
Swift.
Serv"ant, v. t. To subject.
[Obs.] Shak.
Serv"ant (?), n. [OE. servant,
servaunt, F. servant, a & p. pr. of servir to
serve, L. servire. See Serve, and cf. Sergeant.]
1. One who serves, or does services, voluntarily
or on compulsion; a person who is employed by another for menial
offices, or for other labor, and is subject to his command; a person
who labors or exerts himself for the benefit of another, his master or
employer; a subordinate helper. "A yearly hired servant."
Lev. xxv. 53.
Men in office have begun to think themselves mere
agents and servants of the appointing power, and not agents of
the government or the country.
D. Webster.
&fist; In a legal sense, stewards, factors, bailiffs, and other
agents, are servants for the time they are employed in such
character, as they act in subordination to others. So any person may
be legally the servant of another, in whose business, and under whose
order, direction, and control, he is acting for the time being.
Chitty.
2. One in a state of subjection or
bondage.
Thou wast a servant in the land of
Egypt.
Deut. v. 15.
3. A professed lover or suitor; a
gallant. [Obs.]
In my time a servant was I one.
Chaucer.
Servant of servants, one debased to the
lowest condition of servitude. -- Your humble
servant, or Your obedient servant,
phrases of civility often used in closing a letter.
Our betters tell us they are our humble
servants, but understand us to be their slaves.
Swift.
Serv"ant, v. t. To subject.
[Obs.] Shak.
