servō

Meaning

1. to maintain, keep
   Pollicitus sum et servāre in eō certumst quod dīxī fidem.I’ve made a promise and it’s certain that I shall keep what I said.165 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Hecyra 3.3.42
   Aequam mementō rēbus in arduīs servāre mentem[…]Remember to maintain a level mind in difficult situations […]23 BCE – 13 BCE, Horatius, Carmina 2.3.1–2
2. to protect, save, keep, guard, safeguard, watch over
   Invitent croceis [apes] halantes floribus horti Et custos furum atque avium cum falce salignaMay gardens bright, fragrant with flower, lure them [the bees] and Hellespontian Priap with his willow scythe the robbing bee and the birds keep away.c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 4.109–111
   “Quem sī Fāta virum servant, sī vēscitur aurā aetheriā, neque adhūc crūdēlibus occubat umbrīs, nōn metus [...].” “If the Fates protect this man, if he breathes in the upper air, and neither still has he fallen among the cruel shades, [have] no fear ….” (Ilioneus, speaking of Aeneas, assures Queen Dido regarding the Trojan presence in Carthage.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.546–548
3. to give heed to, pay attention to; watch, observe any thing
4. to save, to deliver, rescue
   Hinc enim illa et apud Graecōs exempla, Miltiadem, victōrem domitōremque Persārum, nōndum sānātīs volneribus iīs, quae corpore adversō in clārissima victōriā accēpisset, vītam ex hostium tēlīs servātam in cīvium vinclīs prōfūdisse, et Themistoclem patriā, quam līberāvisset, pulsum atque prōterritum non in Graeciae portūs per sē servātōs, sed in barbariae sinūs cōnfūgisse, quam adflīxerat.Hence these examples among the Greeks as well: Miltiades, victor and conqueror of the Persians, to have spilt his life, preserved from enemies’ weapons, in the chains of his citizens, with the wounds received on the front of his body in the course of the most glorious victory not yet healed; and Themistocles, banished and driven away from the country he had freed, to have fled not to the harbours of Greece, saved by himself, but to the gulfs of a foreign country, which he had oppressed.54 BCE – 51 BCE, Cicero, De re publica 1.3.5
   Super omnia Capitōlium summamque rem in eō sōlus ā Gallīs servāverat, sī nōn regnō suō servasset.Above all [Lucius Siccius Dentatus] had singlehandedly saved the Capitol and the state treasure therein from the Gauls—had he only not saved it for his own reign.77 CE – 79 CE, Plinius Maior, Naturalis Historia 7.29.103
5. to preserve, store, keep, reserve
   Dūrāte, et vōsmet rēbus servāte secundīs.Endure, and preserve yourselves for favourable things.29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.207
6. figurativelyto permit, allow

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Conjugation conjugation 1

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

ieiunium servare

to fast.

constantiam servare

to be calm, self-possessed.

fidem colere, servare

to preserve one's loyalty.

temporum ordinem servare

to observe the chronological order of events.

servare et notare tempora

to observe the chronological order of events.

fidem servare (opp. fallere)

to keep one's word (not tenere).

ordines servare (B. G. 4. 26)

to keep the ranks.

de caelo servare (Att. 4. 3. 3)

to observe the sky (i.e. the flight of birds, lightning, thunder, etc.)

Origins

1. Proto-Indo-European*ser-der.?
2. Proto-Italic*serwos
3. Latinservō

Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin servo By surface analysis, servus + -ō. According to Rix, the term may have originated as a denominative to an older noun *serwā or *serwom, both of which may have meant something akin to "observation, heedance." Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ser-.

Related words