etymology - Is the usage of "service" as a verb a recent phenomenon?


I am finding that people use the word "serviced" in place of other verbs such as served, repaired, helped, etc. Has the use of the word service always been acceptable as a verb? Or is that a more recent phenomenon?



Answer



No, the use of service as a verb is not particularly recent. The OED’s earliest citation in support of the meaning ‘to be of service to; to serve; to provide with a service’ is this in a book by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1893:



If I am to service ye the way that you propose, I'll lose my lifelihood.



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