serge
English edit
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /sɜːd͡ʒ/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /sɝd͡ʒ/
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)d͡ʒ
Etymology 1 edit
From French serge, from Middle French sarge, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *sarica, from Latin sērica (“silken, silk things”), from Ancient Greek σηρικός (sērikós, “silken”), from σήρ (sḗr, “silkworm”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”), possibly from Old Chinese 絲 (*sə, “silk”). Doublet of silk and seric.
Noun edit
serge (countable and uncountable, plural serges)
- (textiles) A type of worsted cloth.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 110:
- Lucy, who had only seen her in either the large loose wrapping dress of serge, or in the quaint simplicity of the Puritanic garb, then so general in England, could not restrain an exclamation of admiration as she returned to their chamber.
- 1993, John Banville, Ghosts:
- What I noticed most strongly was his smell, of hair oil and serge and cigarette smoke, and something else, something intimate and sour and wholly, shockingly other.
- (by metonymy) A garment made of this fabric.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
See also edit
Verb edit
serge (third-person singular simple present serges, present participle serging, simple past and past participle serged)
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
serge (plural serges)
- A large wax candle used in some church ceremonies.
Anagrams edit
French edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Middle French sarge, from Old French sarge, from Vulgar Latin *sarica, from Latin sērica, ultimately from the Ancient Greek σηρῐκός (sērikós, “silken”).
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
serge f (plural serges)
Descendants edit
- → English: serge
Further reading edit
- “serge”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Old French cierge, cerge, cirge, from Latin cereus (“waxy”).
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
serge (plural serges)
- cierge (candle used in ceremony)
Descendants edit
References edit
- “cerǧe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
serge
- Alternative form of serche (“search”)
Etymology 3 edit
Noun edit
serge
- Alternative form of serche (“cut rock”)
Etymology 4 edit
Verb edit
serge
- Alternative form of serchen (“to search”)