servant Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
retainer.
noun in a subordinate position
handmaiden; handmaid.
- theology should be the handmaiden of ethics
- the state cannot be a servant of the church

OE. servant, servaunt, F. servant, a & p. pr. of servir to serve, L. servire. See Serve, and cf. Sergeant.

One who serves, or does services, voluntarily or on compulsion; a person who is employed by another for menial offices, or for other labor, and is subject to his command; a person who labors or exerts himself for the benefit of another, his master or employer; a subordinate helper. "A yearly hired servant." Lev. xxv. 53.
Men in office have begun to think themselves mere agents and servants of the appointing power, and not agents of the government or the country. D. Webster.
✍ In a legal sense, stewards, factors, bailiffs, and other agents, are servants for the time they are employed in such character, as they act in subordination to others. So any person may be legally the servant of another, in whose business, and under whose order, direction, and control, he is acting for the time being. Chitty.
One in a state of subjection or bondage.
Thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt. Deut. v. 15.
A professed lover or suitor; a gallant. Obs.
In my time a servant was I one. Chaucer.

Our betters tell us they are our humble servants, but understand us to be their slaves. Swift.