Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Abjectly submissive; slavish.
- adjective Of or suitable to a slave or servant.
- adjective Of or relating to servitude or forced labor.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of or pertaining to slaves or servants.
- Consisting or made up of slaves; belonging to the class of slaves; held in subjection; dependent.
- Pertaining or appropriate to a slave or dependent; fit or proper for a slave.
- Resembling a slave or dependent; characteristic or worthy of a slave; slavish; hence, mean-spirited; cringing; base; lacking independence.
- Obedient; subject.
- In grammar, of secondary or subordinate character; not independent, but answering an orthographic purpose.
- noun A slave; a menial.
- noun In grammar, a servile element, whether sound or character; a non-radical element.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Of or pertaining to a servant or slave; befitting a servant or a slave; proceeding from dependence; hence, meanly submissive; slavish; mean; cringing; fawning
- adjective Held in subjection; dependent; enslaved.
- adjective Not belonging to the original root.
- adjective Not itself sounded, but serving to lengthen the preceeding vowel, as
e intune . - noun (Gram.) An element which forms no part of the original root; -- opposed to
radical .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective of or pertaining to a
slave - adjective
submissive orslavish - noun grammar An
element which forms no part of the originalroot .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective submissive or fawning in attitude or behavior
- adjective relating to or involving slaves or appropriate for slaves or servants
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Independents ... was what they called the servile character and the dog-like fidelity [_Hundestreue_] of the German people, that is to say, that attachment -- innate and firmly impressed on their minds without even the aid of reason -- which that excellent people everywhere bears towards its princes.
Secret Societies And Subversive Movements Nesta H. Webster 1918
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Because obviously black people can only be in servile positions * rolls eyes*
OMGWTF? fantasyecho 2008
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On the first point: this saying of Augustine is to be understood as referring to one who does something out of servile fear because he is servile, that is, who has no love for justice, but merely fears punishment.
Nature and Grace: Selections from the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas 1954
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Such fear of punishment is compatible with charity, but it is not called servile unless punishment is looked upon as the principal evil, as we explained in Arts. 2 and 3.
Nature and Grace: Selections from the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas 1954
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Before the days of Christianity, slaves alone were thus employed, and from the word "servi" or slaves these are called servile works.
Explanation of Catholic Morals A Concise, Reasoned, and Popular Exposition of Catholic Morals
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Wherefore in this respect those works are called servile whereby one man serves another.
Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Aquinas Thomas
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The third is the servitude of God; and in this way the work of worship, which pertains to the service of God, may be called a servile work.
Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Aquinas Thomas
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On the other hand, those works that are called servile in the first or second way are contrary to the observance of the Sabbath, in so far as they hinder man from applying himself to Divine things.
Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province Aquinas Thomas
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From the first he repudiated the idea of servile imitation of ancient classical authors; discrimination should be shown in borrowing from their writings, and imitation should be restricted to features likely to strengthen the thought.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 6: Fathers of the Church-Gregory XI 1840-1916 1913
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The first of these is the worship of the Eidolon, or Phantasm of Wealth; worship of which you will find the nature partly examined in the 37th paragraph of my _Munera Pulveris_; but which is briefly to be defined as the servile apprehension of an active power in Money, and the submission to it as the God of our life.
The Crown of Wild Olive also Munera Pulveris; Pre-Raphaelitism; Aratra Pentelici; The Ethics of the Dust; Fiction, Fair and Foul; The Elements of Drawing John Ruskin 1859
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