Sërv'ice, n.
n. [Fr. service, Pr. service, Sp. servicio, Pg. serviço, It. servizio, Lat. servitium, A.-S. serfise. See SERVE.]
Sense 1. The act of serving; the occupation of a servant; the performance of labor for the benefit of another, or at another's command; attendance of an inferior, or hired helper, or slave, &c., on a superior, employer, master, or the like; also, spiritual obedience and love.
Madam, I entreat true peace of you, Which I will purchase with my duteous service. Shak.
God requires no man's service upon hard and unconscionable terms. Tillotson.
Sense 2. The deed of one who serves; labor performed for another; assistance or kindness rendered; duty done or required; office.
I will yet do you service. Shak.
This poem was the last piece of service I did for my master, King Charles. Dryden.
Sense 3. Office of devotion; official religious duty performed; religious rites appropriate to any event or ceremonial; as, a burial service.
The outward service of ancient religion, the rites, ceremonies, and ceremonial vestments of the old law. Cranmer.
Sense 4. Hence, a musical composition for use in churches.
Sense 5. Duty performed in, or appropriate to, any office or charge; official function; hence, specifically, military or naval duty; performance of the duties of a soldier.
When he cometh to experience of service abroad . . . he maketh a worthy soldier. Spenser.
To go on the forlorn hope is a service of peril, who will undertake it, if it be not also a service of honor? Montaigne.
Sense 6. Useful office; advantage conferred; that which promotes interest or happiness; benefit; avail.
The monk's prey, when taken in a net, was the service she did in picking up venomous creatures. F. D. D. [unclear]
Sense 7. Profession of respect uttered or sent.
Pray do my service to his majesty. Shak.
Sense 8. Order of dishes at table; a set or number of vessels ordinarily used at table; as, a service of plate or glass.
There was no extraordinary service seen on the board. Beaumont.
Sense 9. (Naut.) The materials used for serving a rope, as spun-yarn, small lines, and the like.
Sense 10. (Bot.) A tree and its fruit, the European mountain-ash, or rowan-tree. See SERVICE TREE.
The wild service is of the genus Cratægus.
Service of a writ, process, &c. (Law), judicial delivery or communication thereof, the communication of process to a party or witness, so as to subject him to its operation; the reading of it to the person to whom notice is intended to be given; or the leaving of an attested copy with the person or his attorney, or at his usual place of abode. — Service of an attachment, the seizing of the person or goods according to the direction. — Service of an execution, the levying of it upon the goods, chattels, or persons of the defendant. — To see service (Mil.), to come into actual contact with the enemy. Campbell.