cercar

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin circāre, from Latin circa, circus. Compare Occitan cercar and French chercher.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /səɾˈka/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /sərˈka/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /seɾˈkaɾ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

cercar (first-person singular present cerco, past participle cercat)

1. (transitive) to look for; to search

   Synonym: buscar

Conjugation

Conjugation of cercar (first conjugation)

infinitive			cercar
present participle			cercant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		cercat		cercada
		plural		cercats		cercades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	cerco	cerques	cerca	cerquem	cerqueu	cerquen
	imperfect	cercava	cercaves	cercava	cercàvem	cercàveu	cercaven
	future	cercaré	cercaràs	cercarà	cercarem	cercareu	cercaran
	preterite	cerquí	cercares	cercà	cercàrem	cercàreu	cercaren
	conditional	cercaria	cercaries	cercaria	cercaríem	cercaríeu	cercarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	cerqui	cerquis	cerqui	cerquem	cerqueu	cerquin
	imperfect	cerqués	cerquessis	cerqués	cerquéssim	cerquéssiu	cerquessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
		—	cerca	cerqui	cerquem	cerqueu	cerquin

Derived terms

• cercador
• cercapersones
• cercapromeses
• cercavila

 

Related terms

• recerca
• cercle

Further reading

• “cercar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “cercar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “cercar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “cercar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese cercar (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Late Latin circāre, from Latin circa, circus. Compare Portuguese cercar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /θeɾˈkaɾ/, (western) /seɾˈkaɾ/

Verb

cercar (first-person singular present cerco, first-person singular preterite cerquei, past participle cercado)

1. to encircle
   • 1409, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, Rufus, Jordanus: Tratado de Albeitaria, Santiago de Compostela: Centro Ramón Piñeiro, page 135:

     Para esto ual reer o lugar jnchado et çercallo de semesugas para liurar ende o sange que y ha para seyr fora

     For this is valid to scrape the swollen place and then to encircle it with leeches, so freeing the blood that is there, letting it go out

2. to fence, to wall
3. to surround; to besiege
   • 1370, R. Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 284:

     por njhũa cousa nonnos leixes partir de Troya, desque a cercaren, ata que non seja tomada et ata que toda sua gent non seja destroýda per gran crueza

     Under no circumstance should you release them from Troia, from the very moment that they surround it, not until it is seized and all of its people is destroyed with great cruelty

Conjugation

• Note: cerc- are changed to cerqu- before front vowels (e).

Conjugation of cercar

	singular			plural
person	first	second	third	first	second	third
Infinitive	eu	ti	el/ela/Vde.	nós	vós	eles/elas/Vdes.
impersonal	cercar
personal	cercar	cercares	cercar	cercarmos	cercardes	cercaren
Gerund
	cercando
Past participle	singular			plural
masculine	cercado			cercados
feminine	cercada			cercadas
Indicative	eu	ti	el/ela/Vde.	nós	vós	eles/elas/Vdes.
present	cerco	cercas	cerca	cercamos	cercades	cercan
imperfect	cercaba	cercabas	cercaba	cercabamos	cercabades	cercaban
preterite	cerquei	cercaches	cercou	cercamos	cercastes	cercaron
pluperfect	cercara	cercaras	cercara	cercaramos	cercarades	cercaran
future	cercarei	cercarás	cercará	cercaremos	cercaredes	cercarán
conditional	cercaría	cercarías	cercaría	cercariamos	cercariades	cercarían
Subjunctive	eu	ti	el/ela/Vde.	nós	vós	eles/elas/Vdes.
present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cerquemos	cerquedes	cerquen
preterite	cercase	cercases	cercase	cercásemos	cercásedes	cercasen
future	cercar	cercares	cercar	cercarmos	cercardes	cercaren
Imperative	–	ti	el/ela/Vde.	nós	vós	eles/elas/Vdes.
affirmative	–	cerca	cerque	cerquemos	cercade	cerquen
negative	–	cerques	cerque	cerquemos	cerquedes	cerquen

Derived terms

• cercado
• Cercado

Related terms

• cerca
• cerco

References

• “cercar” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “cerc” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “cercar” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “cercar” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “cercar” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Italian

Verb

cercar (apocopated)

1. Apocopic form of cercare

Occitan

Etymology

From Old Occitan cercar, from Late Latin circāre, present active infinitive of circō, from Latin circa, circus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seɾˈka/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

cercar

1. to look for; to search
2. (with de) to seek to, to try, to attempt

Conjugation

    Lengadocian (Central Occitan)

		simple			compound
infinitive		cercar			aver cercat
gerund		cercant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		cercat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	cerqui	cercas	cerca	cercam	cercatz	cercan
	imperfect	cercavi	cercavas	cercava	cercàvem	cercàvetz	cercavan
	preterite	cerquèri	cerquères	cerquèt	cerquèrem	cerquèretz	cerquèron
	future	cercarai	cercaràs	cercarà	cercarem	cercaretz	cercaràn
	conditional	cercariái	cercariás	cercariá	cercariam	cercariatz	cercarián
	conditional 2nd form1	cerquèra	cerquèras	cerquèra	cerqueram	cerqueratz	cerquèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cerquem	cerquetz	cerquen
	imperfect	cerquèssi	cerquèsses	cerquèsse	cerquèssem	cerquèssetz	cerquèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			cerca		cerquem	cercatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Auvernhàs

		simple			compound
infinitive		cercar			aver cercat
gerund		cercant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		cercat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerca	cercam	cercatz	cercon
	imperfect	cercave	cercaves	cercava	cercaviam	cercaviatz	cercavon
	preterite	cerquere	cerqueres	cerquet	cerquem	cerquetz	cerqueron
	future	cercarai	cercaràs	cercará	cercarem	cercaretz	cercarán
	conditional	cercariá	cercariás	cercariá	cercariam	cercariatz	cercarián
	conditional 2nd form1	cerquèra	cerquèras	cerquèra	cerqueram	cerqueratz	cerquèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cercassiam	cercassiatz	cercon
	imperfect	cerquesse	cerquesses	cerquesse	cerquessiam	cerquessiatz	cerquesson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			cerca		cercassiam	cercatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Gascon

		simple			compound
infinitive		cercar			aver cercat
gerund		cercant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		cercat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	cerqui	cercas	cerca	cercam	cercatz	cercan
	imperfect	cercavi	cercavas	cercava	cercàvam	cercàvatz	cercavan
	preterite	cerquèi	cerquès	cerquè	cerquèm	cerquètz	cerquèn
	future	cercarèi	cercaràs	cercarà	cercaram	cercaratz	cercaràn
	conditional	cercarí	cercarés	cercaré	cercarem	cercaretz	cercarén
	conditional 2nd form1	cerquèra	cerquèras	cerquèra	cerqueram	cerqueratz	cerquèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	cerqui	cerques	cerque	cerquem	cerquetz	cerquen
	imperfect	cerquèssi	cerquèsses	cerquèsse	cerquèssem	cerquèssetz	cerquèssen
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			cerca		cerquem	cercatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Lemosin

		simple			compound
infinitive		cercar			aver cercat
gerund		cercant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		cercat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	cerque	cercas	cerca	cercam	cercatz	cercan
	imperfect	cercava	cercavas	cercava	cercàvam	cercàvatz	cercavan
	preterite	cerquei	cerqueras	cerquet	cerquèram	cerquèratz	cerqueran
	future	cercarai	cercaràs	cercará	cercarem	cercaretz	cercarán
	conditional	cercariá	cercariàs	cercariá	cercariam	cercariatz	cercarián
	conditional 2nd form1	cerquèra	cerquèras	cerquèra	cerqueram	cerqueratz	cerquèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cerquem	cerquetz	cerquen
	imperfect	cerquèsse	cerquèsses	cerquèsse	cerquèssem	cerquèssetz	cerquèssen
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			cerca		cerquem	cercatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

    Provençau

		simple			compound
infinitive		cercar			aver cercat
gerund		cercant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		cercat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerca	cercam	cercatz	cercan
	imperfect	cercavi	cercavas	cercava	cercàvem	cercàvetz	cercavan
	preterite	cerquère	cerquères	cerquèt	cerqueriam	cerqueriatz	cerquèron
	future	cercarai	cercaràs	cercarà	cercarem	cercaretz	cercaràn
	conditional	cercariáu	cercariás	cercariá	cercariam	cercariatz	cercarián
	conditional 2nd form1	cerquèra	cerquèras	cerquèra	cerqueram	cerqueratz	cerquèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cerquem	cerquetz	cercan
	imperfect	cerquèsse	cerquèsses	cerquèsse	cerquessiam	cerquessiatz	cerquèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			cerca		cerquem	cercatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

Synonyms

• quèrre
• boscar
• recercar

Derived terms

• cercaire
• cercador

Related terms

• cercle

Further reading

• Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎^[1], 2 edition, →ISBN, page 243.

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin circāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t͡seɾ.ˈkaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ

Verb

cercar

1. to encircle, to surround

Descendants

• Galician: cercar
• Portuguese: cercar (see there for further descendants)

Further reading

• Universo Cantigas - "cercar"

Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese cercar, from Late Latin circāre, from Latin circa, circus. Compare Galician cercar.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /seʁˈka(ʁ)/ [sehˈka(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /seʁˈka(ʁ)/ [sehˈka(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /seɾˈka(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /seʁˈka(ʁ)/ [seχˈka(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /seɻˈka(ɻ)/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /sɨɾˈkaɾ/

• Hyphenation: cer‧car

Verb

cercar (first-person singular present cerco, first-person singular preterite cerquei, past participle cercado)

1. (transitive) to besiege
2. (transitive) to surround
3. inflection of cercar:
   1. first/third-person singular future subjunctive
   2. first/third-person singular personal infinitive

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cercar (c-qu alternation) (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	cercar
Personal	cercar	cercares	cercar	cercarmos	cercardes	cercarem
Gerund
	cercando
Past participle
Masculine	cercado			cercados
Feminine	cercada			cercadas
Indicative
Present	cerco	cercas	cerca	cercamos	cercais	cercam
Imperfect	cercava	cercavas	cercava	cercávamos	cercáveis	cercavam
Preterite	cerquei	cercaste	cercou	cercamos1, cercámos2	cercastes	cercaram
Pluperfect	cercara	cercaras	cercara	cercáramos	cercáreis	cercaram
Future	cercarei	cercarás	cercará	cercaremos	cercareis	cercarão
Conditional
	cercaria	cercarias	cercaria	cercaríamos	cercaríeis	cercariam
Subjunctive
Present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cerquemos	cerqueis	cerquem
Imperfect	cercasse	cercasses	cercasse	cercássemos	cercásseis	cercassem
Future	cercar	cercares	cercar	cercarmos	cercardes	cercarem
Imperative
Affirmative		cerca	cerque	cerquemos	cercai	cerquem
Negative (não)		não cerques	não cerque	não cerquemos	não cerqueis	não cerquem

¹Brazil.
²Portugal.

Derived terms

• descercar

Related terms

• cerca

Descendants

• Guinea-Bissau Creole: serka

Further reading

• “cercar” in iDicionário Aulete.
• “cercar” in Dicionário inFormal.
• “cercar” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “cercar” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2023.
• “cercar” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
• “cercar” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish cercar, from Late Latin circāre, from Latin circa, circus. Cognate with English search.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /θeɾˈkaɾ/ [θeɾˈkaɾ]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /seɾˈkaɾ/ [seɾˈkaɾ]
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: cer‧car

Verb

cercar (first-person singular present cerco, first-person singular preterite cerqué, past participle cercado)

1. (transitive) to corral, fence, fence off

Conjugation

    Conjugation of cercar (c-qu alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			cercar
gerund			cercando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		cercado		cercada
		plural		cercados		cercadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cerco	cercastú cercásvos	cerca	cercamos	cercáis	cercan
	imperfect	cercaba	cercabas	cercaba	cercábamos	cercabais	cercaban
	preterite	cerqué	cercaste	cercó	cercamos	cercasteis	cercaron
	future	cercaré	cercarás	cercará	cercaremos	cercaréis	cercarán
	conditional	cercaría	cercarías	cercaría	cercaríamos	cercaríais	cercarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	cerque	cerquestú cerquésvos2	cerque	cerquemos	cerquéis	cerquen
	imperfect (ra)	cercara	cercaras	cercara	cercáramos	cercarais	cercaran
	imperfect (se)	cercase	cercases	cercase	cercásemos	cercaseis	cercasen
	future1	cercare	cercares	cercare	cercáremos	cercareis	cercaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		cercatú cercávos	cerque	cerquemos	cercad	cerquen
	negative		no cerques	no cerque	no cerquemos	no cerquéis	no cerquen

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of cercar (c-qu alternation)

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive cercar
	dative	cercarme	cercarte	cercarle, cercarse	cercarnos	cercaros	cercarles, cercarse
	accusative	cercarme	cercarte	cercarlo, cercarla, cercarse	cercarnos	cercaros	cercarlos, cercarlas, cercarse
with gerund cercando
	dative	cercándome	cercándote	cercándole, cercándose	cercándonos	cercándoos	cercándoles, cercándose
	accusative	cercándome	cercándote	cercándolo, cercándola, cercándose	cercándonos	cercándoos	cercándolos, cercándolas, cercándose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative cerca
	dative	cércame	cércate	cércale	cércanos	not used	cércales
	accusative	cércame	cércate	cércalo, cércala	cércanos	not used	cércalos, cércalas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative cercá
	dative	cercame	cercate	cercale	cercanos	not used	cercales
	accusative	cercame	cercate	cercalo, cercala	cercanos	not used	cercalos, cercalas
with formal second-person singular imperative cerque
	dative	cérqueme	not used	cérquele, cérquese	cérquenos	not used	cérqueles
	accusative	cérqueme	not used	cérquelo, cérquela, cérquese	cérquenos	not used	cérquelos, cérquelas
with first-person plural imperative cerquemos
	dative	not used	cerquémoste	cerquémosle	cerquémonos	cerquémoos	cerquémosles
	accusative	not used	cerquémoste	cerquémoslo, cerquémosla	cerquémonos	cerquémoos	cerquémoslos, cerquémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative cercad
	dative	cercadme	not used	cercadle	cercadnos	cercaos	cercadles
	accusative	cercadme	not used	cercadlo, cercadla	cercadnos	cercaos	cercadlos, cercadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative cerquen
	dative	cérquenme	not used	cérquenle	cérquennos	not used	cérquenles, cérquense
	accusative	cérquenme	not used	cérquenlo, cérquenla	cérquennos	not used	cérquenlos, cérquenlas, cérquense

Derived terms

• cercamiento

 

Related terms

• acercar
• cerca
• cercano
• cerco

 

Further reading

• “cercar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014