different between servant vs blackboy

English

Alternative forms

• servaunt, servand (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French servant, from the present participle of the verb servir. Doublet of sergeant and servient.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s??v?nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?v?nt/, [?s?vn??]
• Rhymes: -??(?)v?nt

Noun

servant (plural servants)

1. One who is hired to perform regular household or other duties, and receives compensation. As opposed to a slave.
2. One who serves another, providing help in some manner.

3. (religion) A person who dedicates themselves to God.
4. (dated) A professed lover.
5. A person of low condition or spirit.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

servant (third-person singular simple present servants, present participle servanting, simple past and past participle servanted)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To subject.

Anagrams

• starven, taverns, versant

French

Etymology

From Middle French, from Old French servant, a substantivized present participle of servir. Cf. also Latin serviens, and French sergent.

Pronunciation

Verb

servant

1. present participle of servir

Noun

servant m (plural servants, feminine servante)

1. servant

Derived terms

• chevalier servant

Related terms

• serveur, serveuse

Further reading

• “servant” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• versant

Latin

Verb

servant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of serv?

Middle English

Etymology

Old French servant, originally the present participle of servir

Noun

servant (plural servants)

1. servant

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

servant m (definite singular servanten, indefinite plural servanter, definite plural servantene)

1. a washbasin
2. a sink

Synonyms

• vask
• vaskeservant

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

servant m (definite singular servanten, indefinite plural servantar, definite plural servantane)

1. a washbasin
2. a sink

Synonyms

• vaskeservant

Old French

Verb

servant

1. present participle of servir

Adjective

servant m (oblique and nominative feminine singular servant or servante)

1. that serves; that fulfils a role

Noun

servant m (oblique plural servanz or servantz, nominative singular servanz or servantz, nominative plural servant)

1. servant (one who serves)

Descendants

• ? English: servant
• French: servant

English

Wikispecies

Alternative forms

• black boy

Etymology

From black +? boy. For sense (plant of genus Xanthorrhoea):, from a supposed resemblance of the plant to an Aboriginal boy holding an upright spear.

Pronunciation

Noun

blackboy (plural blackboys)

1. (Australia, obsolete, possibly offensive) An Aboriginal boy or servant.
   • 1898, Guy Boothby, Billy Binks—Hero, republished in Ken Gelder, Rachael Weaver, The Anthology of Colonial Australian Adventure Fiction, page 118,

     A moment later he beckoned the blackboy to his side, and when he arrived pointed to the ground. The boy gesticulated in answer, and then both pulled their horses to a standstill and waited for me to come up.

   • 1906, South Australian Geology Department, Henry Yorke Lyell Brown, Robert Etheridge, Reports (geological and general) resulting from the explorations made by the government geologist and staff during 1905, page 36,

     September 30th, 1905.—Examined some hills in the locality. A Chinaman and some blackboys are camped here with some cattle belonging to the Mount Diamond butcher.
2. (Australia, informal) Any plant in the genus Xanthorrhoea, native to Australia.
   • 1946, Walkabout, Volume 13, page 49,

     As with many things, the pioneers followed the natives in the use of the Blackboy. They also found that the gum possessed some property that will cure dysentery and other internal complaints. The gum was also used for dyeing, tanning and varnishing.

   • 1966 November 8, Parliament of Western Australia, Parliamentary Debates, page 2181,

     The gum from the blackboy trees was used for the making of varnish and stain, […]

   • 1977, Royal Society of Western Australia, Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, Volumes 60-61, page 5,

     As with any fire, blackboys and sedges were the first to grow, little else appearing before the first rains, which were followed by a flush of herbaceous shoots.

Synonyms

• (Xanthorrhoea plant): balga (X. preissii), grasstree/grass tree, yakka (yacca/yacka) (South Australia)