from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Servant \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.
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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.
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Note: 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.
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2. One in a state of subjection or bondage.
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Thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt. --Deut. v.
15.
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3. A professed lover or suitor; a gallant. [Obs.]
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In my time a servant was I one. --Chaucer.
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{Servant of servants}, one debased to the lowest condition of
servitude.
{Your humble servant}, or {Your obedient servant}, phrases of
civility formerly often used in closing a letter, now
archaic; -- at one time such phrases were exaggerated to
include {Your most humble, most obedient servant}.
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Our betters tell us they are our humble servants,
but understand us to be their slaves. --Swift.
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