sere

See also: sére, seré, and Sêre

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English sere, seer, seere, from Old English sēar. More at sear.

Pronunciation

Adjective

sere (comparative serer, superlative serest)

  1. (archaic) Without moisture, dry.
    • 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, part 5:
      The roaring wind! it roar'd far off,
      It did not come anear;
      But with its sound it shook the sails
      That were so thin and sere.
    • 1868, Henry Lonsdale, The Worthies of Cumberland, volume concerning Sir J. R. G. Graham, chapter 1, page 1:
      …whilst the recitation of Border Minstrelsy, or a well-sung ballad, served to revive the sere and yellow leaf of age by their refreshing memories of the pleasurable past.
    • 1984, Vernor Vinge, The Peace War, chapter 37:
      The grass was sere and golden, the dirt beneath white and gravelly.
Translations

Noun

sere (plural seres)

  1. An intermediate stage in an ecosystem prior to advancing to the point of being a climax community.
Synonyms
  • seral community

Etymology 2

From Middle English sere, ser, from Old Norse sér (“for oneself, separately”, dative reflexive pronoun, literally “to oneself”), from Old Norse sik, from Proto-Germanic *sek (“oneself”). Cognate with Scots seir. Compare Icelandic sig, German sich, Latin se.

Alternative forms

Adjective

sere (comparative more sere, superlative most sere)

  1. (rare, archaic, dialectal) Set apart; separate; individual; different; diverse; several; many.
    • 1815, Roger Ascham, The English Works. A New Ed - Page 133:
      Therefore I have seen good shooters which would have for every bow a sere case, made of woollen cloth, and then you may put three or four of them, so cased, into a leather case if you will.
    • 1912, Eliakim Littell, ‎Robert S. Littell, The Living Age - Volume 274 - Page 153:
      Thou wert wellnee moidered' wi' me, I know, but it thou'd telled me, Mary, I mun do better or else we mun goo our sere-ways,' belike I should a done better. I'm nobbut a mon, Mary, a lundy day-tale mon. Thou might a glen me that much [...]
    • 1999, Richard Beadle, ‎Pamela M. King, York Mystery Plays: A Selection in Modern Spelling - Page 104:
      Behold now sir, and thou shalt see Sere kingdoms and sere country; All this will I give to thee For evermore, And thou fall and honour me As I said ere.
Derived terms

Etymology 3

From French serre.

Noun

sere (plural seres)

  1. (obsolete) Claw; talon.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for sere in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

See also

Anagrams

Czech

Verb

sere

  1. 3rd person singular indicative of srát

Friulian

Etymology

From Latin sēra, from sērō (“at a late hour, late”), from sērus (“late”). Compare Italian sera, Venetian séra, Romansch saira, seira, Romanian seară, French soir.

Noun

sere f (plural seris)

  1. evening

Derived terms

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈseː.re], /ˈsere/
  • Hyphenation: sé‧re

Noun

sere f

  1. plural of sera

Anagrams

Kurdish

Adjective

sere

  1. old

Latin

Etymology 1

Form of the verb serō (“I sow or plant”).

Verb

sere

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of serō

Etymology 2

Form of the verb serō (“I join or weave”).

Verb

sere

  1. second-person singular present active imperative of serō

Etymology 3

Form of sērus.

Adjective

sēre

  1. vocative masculine singular of sērus

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch sēro. Equivalent to sêer +‎ -e.

Adverb

sêre

  1. strongly, very, to a great degree
  2. hard, forcefully
  3. fast, with speed

Descendants

  • Dutch: zeer
  • Limburgish: zieër

Further reading

  • “sere”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • “sere”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English sēar, from Proto-Germanic *sauzaz. Doublet of sor (“sorrel”).

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /sɛːr/

Adjective

sere

  1. (especially referring to plants) dry, withered, shrunken, brittle
Descendants
References

Etymology 2

From Old French seür.

Adjective

sere

  1. Alternative form of sure

Zazaki

Etymology

Related to Persian سر‎ (sar).

Noun

sere ?

  1. (anatomy) head
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