"subserve" meaning in English

See subserve in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: subserves [present, singular, third-person], subserving [participle, present], subserved [participle, past], subserved [past]
Etymology: From Latin subservire. Etymology templates: {{uder|en|la|-}} Latin, {{lena}} Head templates: {{en-verb}} subserve (third-person singular simple present subserves, present participle subserving, simple past and past participle subserved)
  1. To serve to promote (an end); to be useful to.
    Sense id: en-subserve-en-verb-OYiIcVhX
  2. To assist in carrying out.
    Sense id: en-subserve-en-verb-ttU5v21k Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English undefined derivations, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 8 92 Disambiguation of English undefined derivations: 15 85 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 7 93 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 4 96
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: subservient

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin",
      "name": "uder"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "lena"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Latin subservire.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "subserves",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "subserving",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "subserved",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "subserved",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "subserve (third-person singular simple present subserves, present participle subserving, simple past and past participle subserved)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "subservient"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1839 October, J.J. Middleton, “Description of an Astronomical Instrument presented by Raja Ram Sing, of Khota, to the Government of India”, in Journal of the Asiatic Society, volume 8, number 94, page 837:",
          "text": "Calculating by spherical trigonometry, and assuming the same obliquity, I obtain 3 dundas and 40 pulas for the ascensional arc, giving a difference in time of 3 pulas, or about one of our minutes; an error so small, that even were the Indian astronomer aware of its existence he would disregard it, satisfied that the practical purposes which his labours subserve, are, notwithstanding, carried out with sufficient accuracy.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1840, Abel Upshur, A Brief Enquiry into the Nature and Character of our Federal Government, Campbell, page 69:",
          "text": "Their principles will cease to be dear to them, whenever they shall cease to subserve the purposes of good order.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:",
          "text": "'[…] Human laws we respect—ha, ha!—you and I, because they subserve our convenience, and just so long. When they tend to our destruction, 'tis, of course, another thing.'",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To serve to promote (an end); to be useful to."
      ],
      "id": "en-subserve-en-verb-OYiIcVhX",
      "links": [
        [
          "serve",
          "serve"
        ],
        [
          "promote",
          "promote"
        ],
        [
          "useful",
          "useful"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "8 92",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 85",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English undefined derivations",
          "parents": [
            "Undefined derivations",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 93",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "4 96",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC:",
          "text": "'Tis a greater credit to know the ways of captivating Nature, and making her subserve our purposes, than to have learnt all the intrigues of policy.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To assist in carrying out."
      ],
      "id": "en-subserve-en-verb-ttU5v21k",
      "links": [
        [
          "assist",
          "assist"
        ],
        [
          "carrying out",
          "carry out"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "subserve"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English undefined derivations",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Requests for attention in Latin etymologies"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "-"
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      "name": "uder"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "lena"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Latin subservire.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "subserves",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "subserving",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "subserved",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "subserved",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "subserve (third-person singular simple present subserves, present participle subserving, simple past and past participle subserved)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "subservient"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1839 October, J.J. Middleton, “Description of an Astronomical Instrument presented by Raja Ram Sing, of Khota, to the Government of India”, in Journal of the Asiatic Society, volume 8, number 94, page 837:",
          "text": "Calculating by spherical trigonometry, and assuming the same obliquity, I obtain 3 dundas and 40 pulas for the ascensional arc, giving a difference in time of 3 pulas, or about one of our minutes; an error so small, that even were the Indian astronomer aware of its existence he would disregard it, satisfied that the practical purposes which his labours subserve, are, notwithstanding, carried out with sufficient accuracy.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1840, Abel Upshur, A Brief Enquiry into the Nature and Character of our Federal Government, Campbell, page 69:",
          "text": "Their principles will cease to be dear to them, whenever they shall cease to subserve the purposes of good order.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:",
          "text": "'[…] Human laws we respect—ha, ha!—you and I, because they subserve our convenience, and just so long. When they tend to our destruction, 'tis, of course, another thing.'",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To serve to promote (an end); to be useful to."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "serve",
          "serve"
        ],
        [
          "promote",
          "promote"
        ],
        [
          "useful",
          "useful"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica: Or, Confest Ignorance, the Way to Science; […], London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […], →OCLC:",
          "text": "'Tis a greater credit to know the ways of captivating Nature, and making her subserve our purposes, than to have learnt all the intrigues of policy.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To assist in carrying out."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "assist",
          "assist"
        ],
        [
          "carrying out",
          "carry out"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "subserve"
}

Download raw JSONL data for subserve meaning in English (2.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.