All 3 Uses of
servile
in
Gulliver's Travels
- The reader may remember, that when I signed those articles upon which I recovered my liberty, there were some which I disliked, upon account of their being too servile; neither could anything but an extreme necessity have forced me to submit.†
Chpt 1
- Whether those holy lords I spoke of were always promoted to that rank upon account of their knowledge in religious matters, and the sanctity of their lives; had never been compliers with the times, while they were common priests; or slavish prostitute chaplains to some nobleman, whose opinions they continued servilely to follow, after they were admitted into that assembly?†
Chpt 2servilely = submissively -- often in the manner of someone who is so submissive or eager to serve and please that they seem to lack self-respect
- But it is impossible to express his noble resentment at our savage treatment of the Houyhnhnm race; particularly after I had explained the manner and use of castrating horses among us, to hinder them from propagating their kind, and to render them more servile.
Chpt 4 *servile = submissive
Definitions:
-
(1)
(servile) too eager to serve or obey others -- often in a way that seems overly submissive, weak, or lacking self-respect
or:
related to low-status tasks -
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
You might want to remember this as sounding similar to servant. Both words come from the Latin word for slave (servus).