Origin: Latin prefix sub-
Subservient has 4 different meanings across 1 category:
compliant and obedient to authority
"editors and journalists who express opinions in print that are opposed to the interests of the rich are dismissed and replaced by subservient ones"
serving or acting as a means or aid
"instrumental in solving the crime"
abjectly submissive; characteristic of a slave or servant
"slavish devotion to her job ruled her life"
"a slavish yes-man to the party bosses"
"she has become submissive and subservient"
Useful in an inferior capacity.