servile : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: servile	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for servile
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
servile adj submissive or fawning in attitude or behavior; "spoke in a servile tone"; "the incurably servile housekeeper"; "servile tasks such as floor scrubbing and barn work" Antonym(s): unservile, unsubmissive relating to or involving slaves or appropriate for slaves or servants; "Brown's attempt at servile insurrection"; "the servile wars of Sicily"; "servile work"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Servile \Serv"ile\, n. (Gram.) An element which forms no part of the original root; -- opposed to {radical}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Servile \Serv"ile\, a. [L. servile, fr. servus a servant or slave: cf. F. servile. See {Serve}.] 1. Of or pertaining to a servant or slave; befitting a servant or a slave; proceeding from dependence; hence, meanly submissive; slavish; mean; cringing; fawning; as, servile flattery; servile fear; servile obedience. She must bend the servile knee. --Thomson. Fearing dying pays death servile breath. --Shak. 2. Held in subjection; dependent; enslaved. Even fortune rules no more, O servile land! --Pope. 3. (Gram.) (a) Not belonging to the original root; as, a servile letter. (b) Not itself sounded, but serving to lengthen the preceeding vowel, as e in tune.