term:

Serve

serve vt

served
serv·ing
1 : to deliver, publish, or execute (notice or process) as required by law [no notice of any such request was ever served on the husband "National Law Journal"]
2 : to make legal service upon (the person named in a process)
: inform or notify by legal service [unless the city had been served with prior notice of a defect "Gene Mustain"]
3 : to put in (a term of imprisonment) [has served five years of her sentence]

Source: Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law ©1996. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Published under license with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.