Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Deserve

Deserve (de*zẽrv") , transitive verb

[Old French deservir, desservir, to merit, Latin deservire to serve zealously, be devoted to; de- + servire to serve. See Serve.]

1.
To earn by service; to be worthy of (something due, either good or evil); to merit; to be entitled to; as, the laborer deserves his wages; a work of value deserves praise.
God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth. — Job xi. 6
John Gay deserved to be a favorite. — Thackeray
Encouragement is not held out to things that deserve reprehension. — Burke
2.
To serve; to treat; to benefit. [Obsolete]
A man that hath So well deserved me. — Massinger

deserve (de*zẽrv") , intransitive verb

To be worthy of recompense; -- usually with ill or with well.
One man may merit or deserve of another. — South