subserve

[ suhb-surv ]

verb (used with object)

, sub·served, sub·serv·ing.

1. to be useful or instrumental in promoting (a purpose, action, etc.):

   Light exercise subserves digestion.

2. Obsolete. to serve as a subordinate.

subserve

/ səbˈsɜːv /

verb

1. to be helpful or useful to
2. obsolete.
   to be subordinate to

Word History and Origins

Origin of subserve¹

1610–20; < Latin subservīre, equivalent to sub- sub- + servīre to serve

Word History and Origins

Origin of subserve¹

C17: from Latin subservīre to be subject to, from sub- + servīre to serve

Example Sentences

These auditory and reward network pathways likely subserve the mind’s ability to form predictions and expectations during music listening.

From Scientific American

Specific networks of neurons in the brain subserve the formation of human beliefs; neurodegenerative disorders disrupt these networks, leading to distorted beliefs that often have no basis in observable reality.

From Scientific American

They believed the “unusual pressure of time” to work was caused by “the artful and designing men to subserve party purposes.”

From Washington Times

Resting-state fMRI has shown that brain networks that subserve motor and even cognitive functions like language, memory and emotion are continuously and dynamically active in the resting brain.

From Scientific American

In a paper published in The Lancet in February 1916, he posited a “physical or chemical change and a break in the links of the chain of neurons which subserve a particular function.”

From New York Times

Related Words

• accept
• attend
• complete
• follow
• pass
• perform
• work