\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.
Note: 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.