The Collaborative International Dictionary
Subserve \Sub*serve"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Subserved; p. pr. & vb. n. Subserving.] [L. subservire; sub under + servire to serve. See Serve.] To serve in subordination or instrumentally; to be subservient to; to help forward; to promote.
It is a great credit to know the ways of captivating
Nature, and making her subserve our purposes, than to
have learned all the intrigues of policy.
--Glanvill.
Wiktionary
vb. (en-past of: subserve)
Usage examples of "subserved".
We have, according to the extent of the deficiency of certain articles of food, every degree of scorbutic derangement, from the most fearful depravation of the blood and the perversion of every function subserved by the blood to those slight derangements which are scarcely distinguishable from a state of health.
It is highly probable that the Egyptian pyramids were employed for astronomical purposes, and thus subserved physical utility, but it seems no less likely that their shape was suggested by a belief in some system of geometrical symbolism, and was intended to embody certain of their philosophical or religious doctrines.