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serviette

[sur-vee-et]
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noun Chiefly British.
  1. a table napkin.
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Origin of serviette

1480–90; < Middle French, equivalent to servi(r) to serve + -ette -ette; for the formation, cf. oubliette
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for serviette

Historical Examples

  • I carried it with a knife and fork and a serviette out on the verandah.

    'Twixt Land &amp; Sea

    Joseph Conrad

  • He unfolded his serviette with fingers which shook all the time.

    Anna the Adventuress

    E. Phillips Oppenheim

  • "I'm repeating a well-beloved name," she smiled and rose, folding her serviette.

    The Angel of Terror

    Edgar Wallace

  • Shulgovich got up and placed his serviette on the arm of his chair.

    The Duel

    A. I. Kuprin

  • You then lift up the side of the serviette nearest to you and at once produce the card.

British Dictionary definitions for serviette

serviette

noun
  1. mainly British a small square of cloth or paper used while eating to protect the clothes, wipe the mouth and hands, etc
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Word Origin

C15: from Old French, from servir to serve; formed on the model of oubliette
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for serviette

n.

"table napkin," late 15c., from Middle French serviette "napkin, towel" (14c.), of uncertain origin, perhaps from past participle of servir "to serve" (see serve (v.)). Primarily Scottish at first; re-introduced from French 1818.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper