Servus

Servus is a Latin noun meaning "slave" or "servant." In classical Latin it designated a person bound by servitude or a dependent status, and it is attested in a wide range of texts. The term has given rise to various loanwords and forms in European languages and appears in Latin phrases such as servus Dei, "servant of God," illustrating its historical social connotations.

Today, "servus" is widely used as an informal greeting or farewell in parts of Central Europe, especially in Austria and southern Germany (Bavaria, Tyrol, Carinthia). Said aloud with a casual intonation, it can address a single person or a group and is common among friends and peers. It is informal and typically avoided in formal contexts, where greetings like "Guten Tag" or "Grüß Gott" are preferred.

Regional and linguistic impact: The word has left traces in neighboring languages. In Hungarian, the greeting szervusz (and its variants) is common and is believed to derive from the Latin term through contact with German-speaking areas. Similar informal forms exist in other Central European languages, usually used among acquaintances rather than in formal speech.