service

1 of 4

noun (1)

ser·​vice ˈsər-vəs 

1

a

: the occupation or function of serving

in active service

b

: employment as a servant

entered his service

2

a

: the work performed by one that serves

good service

b

: help, use, benefit

glad to be of service

c

: contribution to the welfare of others

d

: disposal for use

I'm entirely at your service

3

a

: a form followed in worship or in a religious ceremony

the burial service

b

: a meeting for worship

—often used in plural

held evening services

4

: the act of serving: such as

a

: a helpful act

did him a service

b

: useful labor that does not produce a tangible commodity

—usually used in plural

charge for professional services

c

: serve

5

: a set of articles for a particular use

a silver tea service

6

a

: an administrative division (as of a government or business)

the consular service

b

: one of a nation's military forces (such as the army or navy)

7

a

: a facility supplying some public demand

telephone service

bus service

b

: a facility providing maintenance and repair

television service

8

: the materials (such as spun yarn, small lines, or canvas) used for serving a rope

9

: the act of bringing a legal writ, process, or summons to notice as prescribed by law

10

: the act of a male animal copulating with a female animal

11

: a branch of a hospital medical staff devoted to a particular specialty

obstetrical service

service

2 of 4

verb

serviced; servicing

transitive verb

: to perform services for: such as

a

: to repair or provide maintenance for

serviced the furnace

b

: to meet interest and sinking fund payments on

service government debt

c

: to perform any of the business functions auxiliary to production or distribution of

d

of a male animal : serve sense 10

servicer noun

service

3 of 4

adjective

1

: of or relating to the armed services

2

: used in serving or supplying

delivery men use the service entrance

3

: intended for hard or everyday use

4

a

: providing services

the service trades—from filling stations to universities

—John Fischer

b

: offering repair, maintenance, or incidental services

service

4 of 4

noun (2)

ser·​vice ˈsər-vəs 

: an Old World tree (Cormus domestica) resembling the related mountain ashes but having larger flowers and larger edible fruit

also : a related Old World tree (Torminalis glaberrima) with bitter fruits

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• kindness
• privilege
• grace
• courtesy
• mercy
• indulgence
• blessing
• benefit

Adjective

• military
• martial
• naval

Examples of service in a Sentence

Noun (1)

performed many services for the charitable organization

that broom is worn out beyond all service

at the time the country had about a million men and women in the service

the OSS, the nation's wartime intelligence service

Verb

I need to get my car serviced.

The shop services sewing machines and old typewriters.

The company was unable to service the loan.

The bookstore primarily services people looking for out-of-print books.

Adjective

spent his time in the army as a correspondent for service newspapers

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But the Chinese side lagged on targets for the purchase of American goods and services. —Mira Rapp-Hooper, Foreign Affairs, 29 Oct. 2025

The Arkansas Department of Health manages related services with federal support. —Arkansas Online, 29 Oct. 2025

Verb

The goal is to raise $100 million for education efforts, with Global Citizen aiming to service 100,000 children across 200+ communities worldwide. —Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 27 Oct. 2025

That’s meant that the costs of servicing the debt for that infrastructure get passed on to consumers. —Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2025

Adjective

And at Joe’s Pizza, the counter-service classic continues to represent what many locals consider a textbook New York slice—thin, quick and best eaten folded. —Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Oct. 2025

The event welcomed high school and community college students, as well as military veterans exploring post-service careers. —News Release, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English service, servise "state of serving or being at someone's command, position in a household, duty which a tenant is owed to a lord, assistance, form followed in Christian worship, provision of food at a table," borrowed from Anglo-French (also continental Old French), borrowed from Medieval Latin servitium, going back to Latin, "condition of being a slave, servitude," (in plural) "slaves as a class," from servus "slave" + -itium -ice — more at serve entry 1

Note: The Latin noun broadened its meaning in post-classical Latin (and in loans into vernacular languages), so that it effectually functioned as a deverbal noun corresponding to servīre "to serve entry 1."

Verb

derivative of service entry 1

Adjective

from attributive use of service entry 1

Noun (2)

probably respelling by folk-etymological association with service entry 1 of serves, plural of serve "the tree Sorbus domestica, its fruit," going back to Middle English cerve, cirve, serve, going back to Old English syrfe (weak noun), borrowed from Vulgar Latin *sorbea, from Latin sorbum "fruit of Sorbus domestica and related species" (of uncertain origin) + -ea, noun derivative of -ea, feminine of -eus -eous

Note: Latin sorbum has been compared with a group of words in East Slavic and Baltic, as Russian sorobalína "blackberry (Rubus sp.)," regional serbalína, serebrína "dog rose," and Lithuanian serbentà, serbénta "black currant (Ribes nigrum)," serbeñtas, ser͂bentas "red currant (Ribes rubrum)," and sirbstù, sir͂bti "to ripen." In the older literature these are linked with an assemblage of words allegedly going back to an Indo-European root *ser-, *sor-, *sr̥- "red, reddish," joined to an assortment of root extensions (compare Lithuanian sar͂tas "bay [of horses]" and other Baltic examples in E. Fraenkel, Litauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch). More recently, M. de Vaan (Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the Other Italic Languages, Brill, 2011) is skeptical of such a relationship and suggests at best a non-Indo-European etymon *sVrb- meaning "berry."

First Known Use

Noun (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1602, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1718, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun (2)

1530, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing service

• active service
• answering service
• application service provider
• at someone's service
• be of service
• civil service
• civil service exam
• community service
• curb service
• dating service
• debt service
• detached service
• distributed denial of service
• divine service
• do (someone) a service
• do (someone) no service
• fan service
• fee-for-service
• foreign service
• full-service
• go into service
• in-service
• Internet service provider
• lip service
• military service
• out of service
• point-of-service
• postal service
• pre-service
• press (someone or something) into service
• public service
• public service announcement
• public-service corporation
• put (something) into service
• room service
• secret service
• selective service
• self-service
• service animal
• service area
• service book
• service box
• service cap
• service ceiling
• service charge
• service club
• service court
• service industry
• service line
• service mark
• service medal
• service member
• service module
• service road
• service station
• service stripe
• service tree
• short message service
• silent service
• social service
• tea service
• terms of service
• the civil service
• valet service
• wire service
• yeoman's/yeoman work/service

Rhymes for service

• nervous
• nervus
• disservice
• preservice
• interservice

Kids Definition

service

1 of 2 noun

ser·​vice ˈsər-vəs 

1

a

: the occupation or function of serving

in active service

b

: employment as a servant

entered the queen's service

2

a

: the work or action performed by one that serves

gives good service

b

: help entry 2 sense 1, use, benefit

be of service to them

c

: availability for use

I'll place a car at your service

3

: a religious ceremony or rite

the burial service

4

a

: the act of serving

b

: a helpful act : good turn

did us a service

c

: useful labor that does not produce goods

—usually used in plural

charge for professional services

d

: serve entry 2

5

: a set of articles for a particular use

a tea service

6

a

: a branch of public employment or the people working in it

the consular service

b

: a nation's armed forces

called into the service

7

: an organization for supplying some public demand or keeping up and repairing something

television sales and service

service adjective

service

2 of 2 verb

serviced; servicing

: to work at taking care of and repairing

service cars

Medical Definition

service

noun

ser·​vice ˈsər-vəs 

: a branch of a hospital medical staff devoted to a particular specialty

pediatric service

Legal Definition

service

1 of 2 noun

ser·​vice

1

: the act of delivering to or informing someone of a writ, summons, or other notice as prescribed by law

after service of process

see also notice by publication at notice, substituted service, summons

Note: Although service of process is primarily the means for a court to exert personal jurisdiction over a person, some form of service (as by publication of notice in a newspaper) is also usually required for exercise of in rem or quasi in rem jurisdiction.

2

a

: useful labor that does not produce a tangible commodity

—usually used in pl.

payment for services rendered

b

: the maintenance or repair of tangible property

machinery for the service and improvement of the residence

service

2 of 2 transitive verb

serviced; servicing

: to provide services for: as

a

: to meet interest and sinking fund payments on (debt)

didn't have the cash flow to service a large loan

b

: to collect payments and maintain a payment schedule for (a loan) especially after sale of the loan to a secondary mortgage market (as the Federal National Mortgage Association) compare originate

Biographical Definition

Service

biographical name

Ser·​vice ˈsər-vəs 

Robert William 1874–1958 Canadian writer