cerco

See also: cercó and cercò

Catalan

Verb

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative form of cercar

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Galician

Pesca do cerco

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθeɾko̝/, (western) /ˈseɾko̝/

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

Related terms

• cercar

References

• “cerco” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
• “çerco” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006-2016.
• “cerco” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “cerco” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “cerco” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

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Italian

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

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

Adjective

cerco (feminine singular 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 main entry.

Verb

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercare

Anagrams

• croce, rocce

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Portuguese

Etymology

Probably derived regressively from cercar.

Pronunciation

• (noun) IPA^(key): /ˈser.ku/
• (verb) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛr.ku/

Noun

cerco m (plural cercos)

1. siege

Synonyms

• assédio, sítio

Verb

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercar

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Spanish

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

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 main entry.

Verb

cerco

1. First-person singular (yo) present indicative form of cercar.

Further reading

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