cerco

See also: cercó and cercò

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈse̞r.ku]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈsər.ko]
• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈsɛr.ku]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈseɾ.ko]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [ˈser.ko]

Verb

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercar

Galician

Pesca do cerco

Etymology 1

From Old Galician-Portuguese cerco (“circle”) (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin circus. Cognate with Portuguese cerco and Spanish cerco.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈθeɾko/ [ˈθeɾ.kʊ]

• IPA^(key): (standard) /ˈθeɾko/ [ˈθeɾ.kʊ]
• IPA^(key): (seseo) /ˈseɾko/ [ˈseɾ.kʊ]

• Rhymes: -eɾko
• Hyphenation: cer‧co

Noun

cerco m (plural cercos)

1. (dated) circle
   • 1345, J. Méndez Pérez & al. (eds.), El monasterio de San Salvador de Chantada, Santiago de Compostela: I. Padre Sarmiento, page 261:

     en qual seelo de plomo da huna parte avia sinal d´armas do dito sennor el rey; conven a saber, en a parte de çima primeiro hun castello et huun leon et en fondo huun leon et huun castello et enderredor estavan dous çercos et entre anbos çercos estava huun letreiro

     in which lead seal, in one side, there was the coat of arms of our lord the king, that is, in the upper part first a castle and a lion, and in the bottom a lion and a castle, and around these there were two circles and in between both circles there was a caption

   Synonym: círculo

2. siege
   • 1460, J. A. Souto Cabo (ed.), Crónica de Santa María de Íria. Santiago: Seminario de Estudos Galegos/Ediciós do Castro, page 102:

     Durou este çerco fasta Janeyro; durou çinquo meses fasta que ouverõ sua concordia os caballeyros et cõ a çidade de Santiago, cõ o arçobispo.

     This siege lasted till January; it lasted five months till there were a concord in between the knights and the city of Santiago with the archbishop

   Synonym: asedio

3. (fishing) purse seine

   Synonym: pesca do cerco

4. moon halo
5. rim

   Synonyms: bordo, aba

Related terms

• cercar

References

• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “cerco”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “cerco”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “cerco”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “cerco”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cerco”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Etymology 2

Verb

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercar

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃer.ko/
• Rhymes: -erko
• Hyphenation: cér‧co

Etymology 1

Unsuffixed past participle of cercare (“to look for”).

Adjective

cerco (feminine cerca, masculine plural cerchi, feminine plural cerche) (obsolete, Tuscany)

1. (very rare) looked for
2. (participial) past participle of cercare

   Synonym: cercato

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercare

Further reading

• cerco in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
• cerco in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
• cerco in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
• cerco in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication

Anagrams

• croce, rocce

Portuguese

Etymology 1

Probably deverbal from cercar.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈseʁ.ku/ [ˈseh.ku]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈseʁ.ku/ [ˈseh.ku]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈseɾ.ku/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈseʁ.ku/ [ˈseχ.ku]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈseɻ.ku/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈseɾ.ku/

• Hyphenation: cer‧co

Noun

cerco m (plural cercos)

1. siege

   Synonyms: sítio, (uncommon) assédio

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛʁ.ku/ [ˈsɛh.ku]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛʁ.ku/ [ˈsɛh.ku]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛɾ.ku/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛʁ.ku/ [ˈsɛχ.ku]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛɻ.ku/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛɾ.ku/

• Hyphenation: cer‧co

Verb

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercar

Further reading

• “cerco”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “cerco”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2026
• “cerco”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “cerco”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “cerco”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθeɾko/ [ˈθeɾ.ko] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ˈseɾko/ [ˈseɾ.ko] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -eɾko
• Syllabification: cer‧co

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin circus. Doublet of circo, a borrowing.

Noun

cerco m (plural cercos)

1. ring (made by dirt)
2. fence

   Synonyms: cerca, verja, valla

3. siege

   Synonyms: asedio, sitio

4. (astronomy) halo

   Synonym: halo

   • 1915, Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y Supersticiones Recogidos de la Tradición Oral Chilena, page 227:

     Si hay cerco en la luna, es señal de que la naturaleza está tranquila y no nos sorprenderá con ningún cataclismo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• alzar el cerco
• cerco de jareta
• cerquillo
• levantar el cerco

Related terms

• cerca
• cercar
• circo
• círculo
• zarcillo

Etymology 2

Borrowed from New Latin cercus, from Ancient Greek κέρκος (kérkos).

Noun

cerco m (plural cercos)

1. (entomology) cercus

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercar

Further reading

• “cerco”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025