servitium

1. Servus, ancilla, famulus, and mancipium, denote a servant who is not free, a slave; minister, one who is free, or only in subordination. Plin. Ep. x. 97. Ancillæ, quæ ministræ dicebantur; that is, in Christian assemblies. 2. Servus (from εἴρερος) means a slave, in a political and juridical sense, as in a state of subjugation, in opp. to dominus, Cic. Verr. iv. 50, like δοῦλος and δμώς; famulus (χαμαλός?) in a patriarchal sense, as belonging to and part of the family, in opp. to herus, Cic. Off. ii. 7, like οἰκέτης; mancipium, in an economical sense, as a possession and marketable commodity, like ἀνδράποδον. 3. Serva means a female slave, with especial reference to her legal condition; ancilla, in ordinary life, as the feminine of servus. Servitus denotes slavery, quite indifferently, as a regular, natural, legal state; whereas servitium, either with contempt or compassion, as an irregular, compulsory, ignominious state. Most prose writers, however, use servitus merely as the abstract; servitium, and especially servitia, as the concrete term for servi. (v. 136.)