Servants

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈsɝvənts/

Definitions

1. People engaged to fulfill tasks or provide assistance, usually within a home setting
2. Individuals hired to perform various duties for others, often taking on roles that involve support and service
3. Persons who work in a household to perform chores and assist with daily tasks

Etymology: "Servants" is the plural of "servant," so it inherits the story of its singular. The singular came into English from Old French, where "servant" was the present participle of "servir," meaning "to serve." In other words, a servant was originally just someone who was in the act of serving. The word arrived in Middle English as "servaunt," and it did not arrive alone: English already had its own word for this kind of person, the Old English "þeġn," a thane or retainer of high standing. The French word pushed that native term aside, a rare case of a continental import replacing an established English word for a common social role. The French verb traces back to Latin "servire," which was built from "servus," "slave." That connection is less comfortable than it looks now, since "serve" once carried much harsher associations, and the English word still carries a trace of the ancient link to bondage. Latin "servus" itself is the source of the same family of English words, including "serf." Among the word's relatives, "sergeant" and "servient" are doublets, meaning they come from the same source but reached English by separate routes, one shaped by French and one by Latin, which gave them very different meanings.

Synonyms: employees, staff, workers, aides, assistants

Antonyms: masters, employers