servant

[sur-vuhnt]

noun

1. a person employed by another, especially to perform domestic duties.

2. a person in the service of another.

3. a person employed by the government.

   a public servant.

servant

/ ˈsɜːvənt /

noun

1. a person employed to work for another, esp one who performs household duties

2. See public servant

Other Word Forms

• servantless adjective
• servantlike adjective
• servant-like adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of servant¹

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French, noun use of present participle of servir to serve; -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of servant¹

C13: via Old French, from servant serving, from servir to _serve

Example Sentences

Smoking a cigarette in a shaded doorway not far from the church, a 33-year-old civil servant, who gave her name as Aurélie, spoke with undisguised bitterness.

From BBC

The Conservatives will set out proposals later on cutting public spending on welfare, aid and civil servants which the shadow chancellor will say would save £47bn over five years.

From BBC

By ordering your servants to break a few eggs.

From Salon

"Certainly civil servants advising will say 'well minister, this is very courageous'. And that I think is the main reason, the financial implications ministers would worry about, because we are short of money."

From BBC

He’s an honest policeman who describes himself as a “functionnaire,” a civil servant, and whose belief in justice might sometimes lead him to letting a malefactor escape.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• assistant 
• attendant 
• helper