deserve

English Online Dictionary. What means deserve‎? What does deserve mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English deserven, from Old French deservir, from Latin dēserviō, from dē- + serviō.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /dɪˈzɜːv/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪˈzɝv/, /dəˈzɝv/
• Hyphenation: de‧serve
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)v

Verb

deserve (third-person singular simple present deserves, present participle deserving, simple past and past participle deserved)

1. (transitive) To be entitled to, as a result of past actions; to be worthy to have.

   After playing so well, the team really deserved their win.

   After what he did, he deserved to go to prison.

   This argument deserves a closer examination.
2. (obsolete) To earn, win.
3. (obsolete) To reward, to give in return for service.
4. (obsolete) To serve; to treat; to benefit.
   • c. 1619–22, Philip Massinger and John Fletcher, A Very Woman

     A man that hath / So well deserved me.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
• This is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See Category:English stative verbs

Synonyms

• merit
• See also Thesaurus:deserve

Derived terms

Related terms

• desert
• serve someone right

Translations

Further reading

• “deserve”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “deserve”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Veeders, severed