service

1 of 4

noun (1)

ser·​vice ˈsər-vəs How to pronounce service (audio)
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 universitiesJohn Fischer
b
: offering repair, maintenance, or incidental services

service

4 of 4

noun (2)

ser·​vice ˈsər-vəs How to pronounce service (audio)
: an Old World tree (Sorbus domestica) resembling the related mountain ashes but having larger flowers and larger edible fruit
also : a related Old World tree (S. torminalis) with bitter fruits

Examples of service in a Sentence

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
Verb
With the future looking to be served by all-electric vehicles that have fewer moving parts that don’t have to be serviced as often, automakers have been looking for other sources of revenue. Lawrence Hodge / Jalopnik, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2024 Dark brown hardwood floors flow into the dining room, which is serviced by an all-white kitchen with marble countertops, dual islands and premium appliances. Jmcclain, Robb Report, 11 Mar. 2024 Joined by Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su, Harris delivered brief remarks from what will be a new Madison Metro Transit facility, where electric buses will be charged and serviced as part of a new bus rapid transit system. Lawrence Andrea, Journal Sentinel, 6 Mar. 2024 The first streetcar option would connect 20 stations, with 10 miles of the 12 mile-corridor serviced by dedicated lanes. Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 1 Mar. 2024 Levinson-Katz said savvy sellers who ensure their homes are in show-ready condition by removing clutter, servicing their HVAC systems, washing windows, and cleaning sewer lines experience multiple offers and maximize their profits. Sara B. Hansen, The Denver Post, 1 Mar. 2024 When not in use, owners have the option to place their properties in a vacation rental pool, which will be fully managed and serviced by the Four Seasons. Emma Reynolds, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 Nearly 1,300 rodents were exterminated and the company on Feb. 18, 2022, launched a massive recall of products sold by 404 stores serviced by the warehouse. Kate Gibson, CBS News, 26 Feb. 2024 In 1875, the Rawsonville School Board dedicated $1,000 to building a brick schoolhouse at the site of the frame building that had been servicing more than 100 pupils. Detroit Free Press, 4 Mar. 2024
Adjective
Does your company take steps to anonymize user data when it is used for its own purposes, shared with service providers, or shared with non-service provider third parties? Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, 4 Dec. 2023 To secure a system's service access rights using private network access for internal services, system access tokens in the internal network for inter-service communication and SSL in the private network are standard practices. Oleh Svet, Forbes, 10 June 2022 To celebrate, the service and pre-service music will be recorded and released by Decca Records on the same day. Rania Aniftos, Billboard, 5 May 2023 The Spa at the Breakers in Palm Beach (pictured here) is just one service provider that includes pre-service consult to make guests facing physical limitations or special considerations feel incredibly welcome and at ease before stepping into their facilities. Zee Krstic, goodhousekeeping.com, 11 May 2023 Some afternoons, the answer is no, which is just the reality for a small counter-service operation with a large menu apparently designed for almost every taqueria in the chain. Tim Carman, Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2023 Now, for the first time, a workable form of passwordless authentication is about to become available to the masses in the form of a standard adopted by Apple, Google, and Microsoft that allows for cross-platform and cross-service passkeys. Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 6 May 2022 This uninvited guest later encounters an ex-service man sleeping in Central Park. Jack D. Grant, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Dec. 2022 Over a half million people logged on to watch the Air Force win the military’s first ever inter-service gaming championship. Pranshu Verma, Washington Post, 10 June 2022
Noun
The report used publicly available National Park Service data, but it was not reviewed by park service staff, according to a spokesperson for the agency. Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024 On both sides, offering special deals or bundles doesn’t make sense unless there’s a middleman, both aggregating broadband providers for streaming services and aggregating streaming services for broadband providers. Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Mar. 2024 The company wanted systems that could churn out humanlike responses—to auto-complete sentences in emails or create relatively simple customer service chatbots. Steven Levy, WIRED, 20 Mar. 2024 The deal suited both parties: GoTo would gain a consistent revenue stream in the form of a service fee from the new Tokopedia joint venture, while TikTok gained a platform to operate its e-commerce platform in Indonesia. Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 20 Mar. 2024 The Smart Ultra supports Spotify Connect, while the Bose app adds support for the Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, and Sirius XM streaming services. Robert Ross, Robb Report, 20 Mar. 2024 Several of Mount Sinai’s hospitals left UnitedHealth’s insurance networks earlier this year over a dispute about how much they should be paid for their services. Jemima Denham, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2024 Live Healthy is meant to grow Florida’s health workforce, incentivize innovation, make prices more predictable and transparent and the system better coordinated for patients, from primary care to disability services to behavioral health. Alexandra Glorioso, Miami Herald, 8 Mar. 2024 Since the internet was hard to use back then, the service was mediated by local librarians, who would help library-goers take their baby steps online. Diba Mohtasham, NPR, 8 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'service.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Time Traveler
The first known use of service was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near service

Cite this Entry

“Service.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/service. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

service

1 of 2 noun
ser·​vice ˈsər-vəs How to pronounce service (audio)
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
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 How to pronounce service (audio)
: 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 How to pronounce Service (audio)
Robert William 1874–1958 Canadian writer

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