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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Abjectly submissive; slavish.
  2. adj. Of or suitable to a slave or servant.
  3. adj. Of or relating to servitude or forced labor.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Of or pertaining to slaves or servants.
  2. Consisting or made up of slaves; belonging to the class of slaves; held in subjection; dependent.
  3. Pertaining or appropriate to a slave or dependent; fit or proper for a slave.
  4. Resembling a slave or dependent; characteristic or worthy of a slave; slavish; hence, mean-spirited; cringing; base; lacking independence.
  5. Obedient; subject.
  6. In grammar, of secondary or subordinate character; not independent, but answering an orthographic purpose.
  7. n. A slave; a menial.
  8. n. In grammar, a servile element, whether sound or character; a non-radical element.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. of or pertaining to a slave
  2. adj. submissive or slavish

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Of or pertaining to a servant or slave; befitting a servant or a slave; proceeding from dependence; hence, meanly submissive; slavish; mean; cringing; fawning.
  2. adj. Held in subjection; dependent; enslaved.
  3. adj. Not belonging to the original root.
  4. adj. Not itself sounded, but serving to lengthen the preceeding vowel, as e in tune.
  5. n. An element which forms no part of the original root; -- opposed to radical.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. submissive or fawning in attitude or behavior
  2. adj. relating to or involving slaves or appropriate for slaves or servants

Etymologies

  1. Middle English, from Latin servīlis, from servus, slave.

Examples

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‘servile’ has been looked up 2334 times, loved by 5 people, added to 31 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 10.