serviceable
English
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English servisable, from Old French servisable, from servise. By surface analysis, service + -able.
Pronunciation
edit- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsɝvɪsəbl̩/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɜːvɪsəbl̩/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Adjective
editserviceable (comparative more serviceable, superlative most serviceable)
- Easy to service.
- Repairable instead of disposable.
- In condition for use.
- 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:
- I employed myself in making, as well as I could, a great many baskets, both to carry earth or to carry or lay up anything, as I had occasion; and though I did not finish them very handsomely, yet I made them sufficiently serviceable for my purpose...
- 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0091:
- There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
- 1964 November, “Motive Power Miscellany: Southern Region”, in Modern Railways, page 368:
- The shortage of serviceable SR steam power has also led to the use of the surviving Q1 0-6-0s on passenger duties, particularly on the Horsham-Guildford service.
- 2020 October 14, Phil McNulty, “England 0-1 Denmark: 'Harry Maguire looked devoid of confidence in Nations League loss'”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- Maguire was always extravagantly priced at £80m but a player who is a solid and serviceable Premier League defender and has become one of England manager Gareth Southgate's most trusted squad members now looks hopelessly out of form.
Synonyms
editDerived terms
editTranslations
editeasy to service
|
repairable instead of disposable
|
in condition for use
|
Anagrams
editMiddle English
editAdjective
editserviceable
- Alternative form of servisable
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms suffixed with -able
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English adjectives