serge
See also: Serge and sergé
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /sɜːd͡ʒ/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /sɝd͡ʒ/
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)d͡ʒ
Etymology 1
Borrowed from French serge, replacing an older borrowing from Middle French sarge, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *sarica, from Latin sērica (“silk garments”).
Noun
serge (countable and uncountable, plural serges)
- (textiles) A type of worsted cloth.
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, 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
- denim
Translations
type of cloth
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Verb
serge (third-person singular simple present serges, present participle serging, simple past and past participle serged)
- (sewing) To overlock.
Etymology 2
From French cierge.
Noun
serge (plural serges)
- A large wax candle used in some church ceremonies.
Anagrams
- Geers, Geres, Seger, egers, egres, geers, grees
French
Alternative forms
- sarge (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle French sarge, from Old French sarge, from Vulgar Latin *sarica, from Latin sērica, ultimately from the Ancient Greek σηρῐκός (sērikós, “silken”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sɛʁʒ/
Audio (file)
Noun
serge f (plural serges)
- (textiles) twill, serge
Descendants
- → English: serge
Further reading
- “serge”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle English
Etymology 1
From Old French cierge, cerge, cirge, from Latin cereus (“waxy”).
Alternative forms
- cerge, serje, sherge, cirge
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsɛrdʒ(ə)/, /ˈsirdʒ(ə)/
Noun
serge (plural serges)
- cierge (candle used in ceremony)
Descendants
- English: cierge
- Scots: serge, sarge (obsolete)
References
- “cerǧe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Noun
serge
- Alternative form of serche (“search”)
Noun
serge
- Alternative form of serche (“cut rock”)
Verb
serge
- Alternative form of serchen (“to search”)