Example sentences
fú服wù务yuán员，mǎi买dān单。
Waiter, the bill.
zhè这ge个fú服wù务yuán员tài态dù度hěn很hǎo好。
This waiter has a good attitude.
About this word
服务 is to serve, and 员 is a suffix for a person in a role, the 员 of 员工 and 会员. 服务员 is therefore the service person, the standard word for a waiter, waitress, or any staff member who serves customers. 员 is one of the most useful building blocks in Chinese: 演员 (actor), 运动员 (athlete), 售货员 (sales clerk), 售票员 (ticket seller). Use 服务员 to call a waiter, the safe choice everywhere. In a hotel, the front desk is 前台.
The story behind the character
服
月 (here a boat) plus 𠬝 (sound). Xu Shen wrote 服, 用也, and it later came to mean clothing.
务
务 is 力 (strength, effort) with 敄 on top for the sound. Xu Shen wrote 務, 趣也: to be intent on something, to press toward it. The 力 is carrying the meaning, which fits a character about work. 服务 is service. 任务 is a task. Both are things you put effort into.
员
员 puts 口 over 貝 (shell money). Xu Shen wrote 員, 物數也: the count of things, a tally. You count goods, you count coins. Later the counting moved from things to people, and 员 became the word for a member, one of the staff. 服务员 is the person who serves. Somebody counted among the staff.