Part 34
{ Ser"rulate (?), Ser"ru*la`ted (?), } a. [L. serrula a little saw, dim. of serra a saw.] Finely serrate; having very minute teeth.
Ser`ru*la"tion (?), n. 1. The state of being notched minutely, like a fine saw. Wright.
2. One of the teeth in a serrulate margin.
Ser"ry (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Serried (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Serrying.] [F. serrer, LL. serrare, serare, from L. sera a bar, bolt; akin to serere to join or bind together. See Serries.] To crowd; to press together. [Now perhaps only in the form serried, p. p. or a.]
||Ser`tu*la"ri*a (?), n. [NL., dim. fr. L. serta a garland.] (Zoöl.) A ||genus of delicate branching hydroids having small sessile hydrothecæ ||along the sides of the branches.
Ser`tu*la"ri*an (?), n. (Zoöl.) Any species of Sertularia, or of Sertularidæ, a family of hydroids having branched chitinous stems and simple sessile hydrothecæ. Also used adjectively.
Se"rum (s"rm), n. [L., akin to Gr. &?;&?;&?;, Skr. sra curd.] (Physiol.) (a) The watery portion of certain animal fluids, as blood, milk, etc. (b) A thin watery fluid, containing more or less albumin, secreted by the serous membranes of the body, such as the pericardium and peritoneum.
Blood serum, the pale yellowish fluid which exudes from the clot formed in the coagulation of the blood; the liquid portion of the blood, after removal of the blood corpuscles and the fibrin. -- Muscle serum, the thin watery fluid which separates from the muscles after coagulation of the muscle plasma; the watery portion of the plasma. See Muscle plasma, under Plasma. -- Serum albumin (Physiol. Chem.), an albuminous body, closely related to egg albumin, present in nearly all serous fluids; esp., the albumin of blood serum. -- Serum globulin (Physiol. Chem.), paraglobulin. -- Serum of milk (Physiol. Chem.), the whey, or fluid portion of milk, remaining after removal of the casein and fat.
Serv"a*ble (?), a. [See Serve.] 1. Capable of being served.
2. [L. servabilis.] Capable of being preserved. [R.]
Serv"age (?), n. [Cf. F. servage.] Serfage; slavery; servitude. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Ser"val (?), n. [Cf. F. serval.] (Zoöl.) An African wild cat (Felis serval) of moderate size. It has rather long legs and a tail of moderate length. Its color is tawny, with black spots on the body and rings of black on the tail.
Ser"val*ine (?), a. (Zoöl.) Related to, or resembling, the serval.
Serv"ant (?), n. [OE. servant, servaunt, F. servant, a & p. pr. of servir to serve, L. servire. See Serve, and cf. Sergeant.] 1. 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.
2. One in a state of subjection or bondage.
Thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt.
Deut. v. 15.
3. A professed lover or suitor; a gallant. [Obs.]
In my time a servant was I one.
Chaucer.
Servant of servants, one debased to the lowest condition of servitude. -- Your humble servant, or Your obedient servant, phrases of civility often used in closing a letter.
Our betters tell us they are our humble servants, but understand us to be their slaves.
Swift.
Serv"ant, v. t. To subject. [Obs.] Shak.
Serv"ant*ess, n. A maidservant. [Obs.] Wyclif.
Serv"ant*ry (?), n. A body of servants; servants, collectively. [R.]
Serve (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Served (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Serving.] [OE. serven, servien, OF. & F. servir, fr. L. servire; akin to servus a servant or slave, servare to protect, preserve, observe; cf. Zend har to protect, haurva protecting. Cf. Conserve, Desert merit, Dessert, Observe, Serf, Sergeant.] 1. To work for; to labor in behalf of; to exert one's self continuously or statedly for the benefit of; to do service for; to be in the employment of, as an inferior, domestic, serf, slave, hired assistant, official helper, etc.; specifically, in a religious sense, to obey and worship.
God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit.
Rom. i. 9.
Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.
Gen. xxix. 18.
No man can serve two masters.
Matt. vi. 24.
Had I but served my God with half the zeal I served my king, he would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies.
Shak.
2. To be subordinate to; to act a secondary part under; to appear as the inferior of; to minister to.
Bodies bright and greater should not serve The less not bright.
Milton.
3. To be suitor to; to profess love to. [Obs.]
To serve a lady in his beste wise.
Chaucer.
4. To wait upon; to supply the wants of; to attend; specifically, to wait upon at table; to attend at meals; to supply with food; as, to serve customers in a shop.
Others, pampered in their shameless pride, Are served in plate and in their chariots ride.
Dryden.
5. Hence, to bring forward, arrange, deal, or distribute, as a portion of anything, especially of food prepared for eating; -- often with up; formerly with in.
Bid them cover the table, serve in the meat, and we will come in to dinner.
Shak.
Some part he roasts, then serves it up so dressed.
Dryde.
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6. To perform the duties belonging to, or required in or for; hence, to be of use to; as, a curate may serve two churches; to serve one's country.
7. To contribute or conduce to; to promote; to be sufficient for; to satisfy; as, to serve one's turn.
Turn it into some advantage, by observing where it can serve another end.
Jer. Taylor.
8. To answer or be (in the place of something) to; as, a sofa serves one for a seat and a couch.
9. To treat; to behave one's self to; to requite; to act toward; as, he served me very ill.
10. To work; to operate; as, to serve the guns.
11. (Law) (a) To bring to notice, deliver, or execute, either actually or constructively, in such manner as the law requires; as, to serve a summons. (b) To make legal service opon (a person named in a writ, summons, etc.); as, to serve a witness with a subpœna.
12. To pass or spend, as time, esp. time of punishment; as, to serve a term in prison.
13. To copulate with; to cover; as, a horse serves a mare; -- said of the male.
14. (Tennis) To lead off in delivering (the ball).
15. (Naut.) To wind spun yarn, or the like, tightly around (a rope or cable, etc.) so as to protect it from chafing or from the weather. See under Serving.
To serve an attachment or a writ of attachment (Law), to levy it on the person or goods by seizure, or to seize. -- To serve an execution (Law), to levy it on a lands, goods, or person, by seizure or taking possession. -- To serve an office, to discharge a public duty. -- To serve a process (Law), in general, to read it, so as to give due notice to the party concerned, or to leave an attested copy with him or his attorney, or his usual place of abode. -- To serve a warrant, to read it, and seize the person against whom it is issued. -- To serve a writ (Law), to read it to the defendant, or to leave an attested copy at his usual place of abode. -- To serve one out, to retaliate upon; to requite. "I'll serve you out for this." C. Kingsley. -- To serve one right, to treat, or cause to befall one, according to his deserts; -- used commonly of ill deserts; as, it serves the scoundrel right. -- To serve one's self of, to avail one's self of; to make use of. [A Gallicism]
I will serve myself of this concession.
Chillingworth.
-- To serve out, to distribute; as, to serve out rations. -- To serve the time or the hour, to regulate one's actions by the requirements of the time instead of by one's duty; to be a timeserver. [Obs.]
They think herein we serve the time, because thereby we either hold or seek preferment.
Hooker.
Syn. -- To obey; minister to; subserve; promote; aid; help; assist; benefit; succor.
Serve (?), v. i. 1. To be a servant or a slave; to be employed in labor or other business for another; to be in subjection or bondage; to render menial service.
The Lord shall give thee rest . . . from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.
Isa. xiv. 3.
2. To perform domestic offices; to be occupied with household affairs; to prepare and dish up food, etc.
But Martha . . . said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?
Luke x. 40.
3. To be in service; to do duty; to discharge the requirements of an office or employment. Specifically, to act in the public service, as a soldier, seaman. etc.
Many . . . who had before been great commanders, but now served as private gentlemen without pay.
Knolles.
4. To be of use; to answer a purpose; to suffice; to suit; to be convenient or favorable.
This little brand will serve to light your fire.
Dryden.
As occasion serves, this noble queen And prince shall follow with a fresh supply.
Shak.
5. (Tennis) To lead off in delivering the ball.
Serv"er (?), n. 1. One who serves.
2. A tray for dishes; a salver. Randolph.
Ser"vi*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to Servia, a kingdom of Southern Europe. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Servia.
{ Serv"ice (?), n., or Serv"ice (?) }. [Properly, the tree which bears serve, OE. serves, pl., service berries, AS. syrfe service tree; akin to L. sorbus.] (Bot.) A name given to several trees and shrubs of the genus Pyrus, as Pyrus domestica and P. torminalis of Europe, the various species of mountain ash or rowan tree, and the American shad bush (see Shad bush, under Shad). They have clusters of small, edible, applelike berries.
Service berry (Bot.), the fruit of any kind of service tree. In British America the name is especially applied to that of the several species or varieties of the shad bush (Amelanchier.)
Serv"ice, n. [OE. servise, OF. servise, service, F. service, from L. servitium. See Serve.] 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, hired helper, slave, etc., on a superior, employer, master, or the like; also, spiritual obedience and love. "O God . . . whose service is perfect freedom." Bk. of Com. Prayer.
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 unreasonable terms.
Tillotson.
2. The deed of one who serves; labor performed for another; duty done or required; office.
I have served him from the hour of my nativity, . . . and have nothing at his hands for my service but blows.
Shak.
This poem was the last piece of service I did for my master, King Charles.
Dryden.
To go on the forlorn hope is a service of peril; who will understake it if it be not also a service of honor?
Macaulay.
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.
Coleridge.
4. Hence, a musical composition for use in churches.
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 . . . ne maketh a worthy soldier.
Spenser.
6. Useful office; advantage conferred; that which promotes interest or happiness; benefit; avail.
The stork's plea, when taken in a net, was the service she did in picking up venomous creatures.
L'Estrange.
7. Profession of respect; acknowledgment of duty owed. "Pray, do my service to his majesty." Shak.
8. The act and manner of bringing food to the persons who eat it; order of dishes at table; also, a set or number of vessels ordinarily used at table; as, the service was tardy and awkward; a service of plate or glass.
There was no extraordinary service seen on the board.
Hakewill.
9. (Law) The act of bringing to notice, either actually or constructively, in such manner as is prescribed by law; as, the service of a subpœna or an attachment.
10. (Naut.) The materials used for serving a rope, etc., as spun yarn, small lines, etc.
11. (Tennis) The act of serving the ball.
12. Act of serving or covering. See Serve, v. t., 13.
Service book, a prayer book or missal. - - Service line (Tennis), a line parallel to the net, and at a distance of 21 feet from it. -- Service of a writ, process, etc. (Law), personal delivery or communication of the writ or process, etc., to the party to be affected by it, 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 (Law), the seizing of the person or goods according to the direction. -- Service of an execution (Law), the levying of it upon the goods, estate, or person of the defendant. -- Service pipe, a pipe connecting mains with a dwelling, as in gas pipes, and the like. Tomlinson. -- To accept service. (Law) See under Accept. -- To see service (Mil.), to do duty in the presence of the enemy, or in actual war.
Serv"ice*a*ble (?), a. 1. Doing service; promoting happiness, interest, advantage, or any good; useful to any end; adapted to any good end use; beneficial; advantageous. "Serviceable to religion and learning". Atterbury. "Serviceable tools." Macaulay.
I know thee well, a serviceable villain.
Shak.
2. Prepared for rendering service; capable of, or fit for, the performance of duty; hence, active; diligent.
Courteous he was, lowly, and servysable.
Chaucer.
Bright-hearnessed angels sit in order serviceable.
Milton.
Seeing her so sweet and serviceable.
Tennnyson.
-- Serv"ice*a*ble*ness, n. -- Serv"ice*a*bly, adv.
Serv"ice*age (?), n. Servitude. [Obs.] Fairfax.
Serv"i*ent (?), a. [L. serviens, -entis, p. pr. See Serve.] Subordinate. [Obs. except in law.] Dyer.
Servient tenement or estate (Law), that on which the burden of a servitude or an easement is imposed. Cf. Dominant estate, under Dominant. Gale & Whately.
||Ser`viette" (?), n. [F.] A table napkin.
Serv"ile (?), a. [L. servile, fr. servus a servant or slave: cf. F. servile. See Serve.] 1. Of or pertaining to a servant or slave; befitting a servant or a slave; proceeding from dependence; hence, meanly submissive; slavish; mean; cringing; fawning; as, servile flattery; servile fear; servile obedience.
She must bend the servile knee.
Thomson.
Fearing dying pays death servile breath.
Shak.
2. Held in subjection; dependent; enslaved.
Even fortune rules no more, O servile land!
Pope.
3. (Gram.) (a) Not belonging to the original root; as, a servile letter. (b) Not itself sounded, but serving to lengthen the preceeding vowel, as e in tune.
Serv"ile, n. (Gram.) An element which forms no part of the original root; -- opposed to radical.
Serv"ile*ly, adv. In a servile manner; slavishly.
Serv"ile*ness, n. Quality of being servile; servility.
Ser*vil"i*ty (?), n. [Cf. F. servilité.] The quality or state of being servile; servileness.
To be a queen in bondage is more vile Than is a slave in base servility.
Shak.
Serv"ing, a. & n. from Serve.
Serving board (Naut.), a flat piece of wood used in serving ropes. -- Serving maid, a female servant; a maidservant. -- Serving mallet (Naut.), a wooden instrument shaped like a mallet, used in serving ropes. -- Serving man, a male servant, or attendant; a manservant. -- Serving stuff (Naut.), small lines for serving ropes.
Serv"ite (?), n. [It. servita.] (R.C.Ch.) One of the order of the Religious Servants of the Holy Virgin, founded in Florence in 1223.
Serv"i*tor (?), n. [L., fr. servire to serve: cf. F. serviteur.] 1. One who serves; a servant; an attendant; one who acts under another; a follower or adherent.
Your trusty and most valiant servitor.
Shak.
2. (Univ. of Oxford, Eng.) An undergraduate, partly supported by the college funds, whose duty it formerly was to wait at table. A servitor corresponded to a sizar in Cambridge and Dublin universities.
Serv"i*tor*ship, n. The office, rank, or condition of a servitor. Boswell.
Serv"i*tude (?), n. [L. servitudo: cf. F. servitude.] 1. The state of voluntary or compulsory subjection to a master; the condition of being bound to service; the condition of a slave; slavery; bondage; hence, a state of slavish dependence.
You would have sold your king to slaughter, His princes and his peers to servitude.
Shak.
A splendid servitude; . . . for he that rises up early, and goe&?; to bed late, only to receive addresses, is really as much abridged in his freedom as he that waits to present one.
South.
2. Servants, collectively. [Obs.]
After him a cumbrous train Of herds and flocks, and numerous servitude.
Milton.
3. (Law) A right whereby one thing is subject to another thing or person for use or convenience, contrary to the common right.
The object of a servitude is either to suffer something to be done by another, or to omit to do something, with respect to a thing. The easements of the English correspond in some respects with the servitudes of the Roman law. Both terms are used by common law writers, and often indiscriminately. The former, however, rather indicates the right enjoyed, and the latter the burden imposed. Ayliffe. Erskine. E. Washburn.
Penal servitude. See under Penal. -- Personal servitude (Law), that which arises when the use of a thing is granted as a real right to a
## particular individual other than the proprietor. -- Predial servitude
(Law), that which one estate owes to another estate. When it related to lands, vineyards, gardens, or the like, it is called rural; when it related to houses and buildings, it is called urban.
Serv"i*ture (?), n. Servants, collectively. [Obs.]
Serv"i*tute (?), n. [L. servitus.] Servitude. [Obs.]
Se"rye (?), n. A series. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Ses"a*me (?), n. [L. sesamum, sesama, Gr. &?;&?;&?;&?;, &?;&?;&?;: cf. F. sésame.] (Bot.) Either of two annual herbaceous plants of the genus Sesamum (S. Indicum, and S. orientale), from the seeds of which an oil is expressed; also, the small obovate, flattish seeds of these plants, sometimes used as food. See Benne.
Open Sesame, the magical command which opened the door of the robber's den in the Arabian Nights' tale of "The Forty Thieves;" hence, a magical password. -- Sesame grass. (Bot.) Same as Gama grass.
Ses"a*moid (?), a. [Gr. &?;&?;&?;&?; like sesame; &?;&?;&?;&?;&?; sesame + &?;&?;&?; form: cf. F. sésamoïde.] 1. Resembling in shape the seeds of sesame.
2. (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the sesamoid bones or cartilages; sesamoidal.
Sesamoid bones, Sesamoid cartilages (Anat.), small bones or cartilages formed in tendons, like the patella and pisiform in man.
Ses"a*moid, n. (Anat.) A sesamoid bone or cartilage.
Ses`a*moid"al (?), a. (Anat.) Sesamoid.
Ses"ban (?), n. [F., fr. Ar. saisabn, seisebn, a kind of tree, fr. Per. ssabn seed of cinquefoil.] (Bot.) A leguminous shrub (Sesbania aculeata) which furnishes a fiber used for making ropes.
The name is applied also to the similar plant, Sesbania Ægyptiaca, and other species of the same genus.
||Ses`qui- (?). [L., one half more, one and a half.] (Chem.) A ||combining form (also used adjectively) denoting that three atoms or ||equivalents of the substance to the name of which it is prefixed are ||combined with two of some other element or radical; as, ||sesquibromide, sesquicarbonate, sesquichloride, sesquioxide.
Sesquidupli- is sometimes, but rarely, used in the same manner to denote the proportions of two and a half to one, or rather of five to two.
Ses`qui*al"ter (?), a. Sesquialteral.
{ Ses`qui*al"ter (?), Ses`qui*al"ter*a (?), } n. [NL. sesquialtera.] (Mus.) A stop on the organ, containing several ranks of pipes which reënforce some of the high harmonics of the ground tone, and make the sound more brilliant.
{ Ses`qui*al"ter*al (?), Ses`qui*al"ter*ate (?), } a. [L. sesquialter once and a half; sesqui- + alter other: cf. F. sesquialtére.] Once and a half times as great as another; having the ratio of one and a half to one.
Sesquialteral ratio (Math.), the ratio of one and a half to one; thus, 9 and 6 are in a sesquialteral ratio.
Ses`qui*al"ter*ous (?), a. Sesquialteral.
Ses`qui*ba"sic (?), a. [Sesqui- + basic.] (Chem.) Containing, or acting as, a base in the proportions of a sesqui compound.
Ses`qui*du"pli*cate (?), a. [Sesqui- + duplicate.] Twice and a half as great (as another thing); having the ratio of two and a half to one.
Sesquiduplicate ratio (Math.), the ratio of two and a half to one, or one in which the greater term contains the lesser twice and a half, as that of 50 to 20.
Ses`qui*ox"ide (?), n. [Sesqui- + oxide.] (Chem.) An oxide containing three atoms of oxygen with two atoms (or radicals) of some other substance; thus, alumina, Al2O3 is a sesquioxide.
{ Ses*quip"e*dal (?), Ses`qui*pe*da"li*an (?), } a. [Sesqui- + pedal: cf. F. sesquipédal, L. sesquipedalis.] Measuring or containing a foot and a half; as, a sesquipedalian pygmy; -- sometimes humorously applied to long words.
{ Ses`qui*pe*da"li*an*ism (?), Ses*quip"e*dal*ism (?), } n. Sesquipedality.
Ses`qui*pe*dal"i*ty (?), n. 1. The quality or condition of being sesquipedal. Sterne.
2. The use of sesquipedalian words; style characterized by the use of long words; sesquipedalism.
Ses*quip"li*cate (?), a. [Sesqui- + plicate.] (Math.) Subduplicate of the triplicate; -- a term applied to ratios; thus, a and a′ are in the sesquiplicate ratio of b and b′, when a is to a′ as the square root of the cube of b is to the square root of the cube of b′, or a:a′::√b3:√b′3.
The periodic times of the planets are in the sesquiplicate ratio of their mean distances.
Sir I. Newton.
Ses"qui*salt (?), n. [Sesqui- + salt.] (Chem.) A salt derived from a sesquioxide base, or made up on the proportions of a sesqui compound.
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Ses`qui*sul"phide (?), n. [Sesqui- + sulphide.] (Chem.) A sulphide, analogous to a sesquioxide, containing three atoms of sulphur to two of the other ingredient; -- formerly called also sesquisulphuret; as, orpiment, As2S3 is arsenic sesquisulphide.
Ses`qui*ter"tial (?), a. Sesquitertian.
{ Ses`qui*ter"tian (?), Ses`qui*ter"tian*al (?), } a. [Sesqui- + L. tertianus belonging to the third. Cf. Tertian.] (Math.) Having the ratio of one and one third to one (as 4 : 3).
Ses"qui*tone (?), n. [Sesqui- + tone.] (Mus.) A minor third, or interval of three semitones.
Sess (?), v. t. [Aphetic form of assess. See Assess, Cess.] To lay a tax upon; to assess. [Obs.]
Sess, n. A tax; an assessment. See Cess. [Obs.]
Ses"sa (?), interj. Hurry; run. [Obs.] Shak.