serene

See also: Serene, serené, and Serēnē

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /səˈɹiːn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /səˈɹin/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːn

Etymology 1

From Middle English, borrowed from Latin serēnus (“clear, cloudless, untroubled”).

Adjective

serene (comparative more serene or serener, superlative most serene or serenest)

1. Calm, peaceful, unruffled.

   Synonyms: cool-headed, placid; see also Thesaurus:calm

   She looked at her students with joviality and a serene mentality.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 6:

     Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.

2. Without worry or anxiety; unaffected by disturbance.

   Synonyms: easygoing, unconcerned; see also Thesaurus:carefree

   • 1908, Andy Adams, Reed Anthony, Cowman:

     I took train and reached Wichita, where my active partner was awaiting me. He had just returned from the Medicine River, and reported everything serene.

3. (archaic) Fair and unclouded (as of the sky); clear; unobscured.
   • 1717, Alexander Pope, “Winter. The Fourth Pastoral. […]”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], →OCLC, page 30:

     Now ſleeping flocks on their ſoft fleeces lie, / The moon, ſerene in glory, mounts the sky, […]

   • 1750 June 12 (date written; published 1751), T[homas] Gray, “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, in Designs by Mr. R[ichard] Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], published 1753, →OCLC, page 32:

     Full many a gem of pureſt ray ſerene / The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear: […]

   • 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter VI, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC:

     A serene sky and verdant fields filled me with ecstasy.

4. Used as part of certain titles, originally to indicate sovereignty or independence.

   Her Serene Highness

Derived terms

• all serene
• drop serene
• Her Serene Highness
• His Serene Highness
• sereneness
• serenify
• serenity
• serenize
• unserene
• Your Serene Highness

Translations

peaceful, calm

• Armenian: խաղաղ (hy) (xaġaġ), անդորր (hy) (andorr)
• Aromanian: sirin
• Belarusian: ціхамі́рны (cixamírny), спако́йны (be) (spakójny)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: matuninong

• Bulgarian: спокоен (bg) (spokoen), тих (bg) (tih)
• Catalan: serè (ca)
• Cebuano: tin-od, tinong
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 平靜 / 平静 (zh) (píngjìng), 寧靜 / 宁静 (zh) (níngjìng), 安詳 / 安详 (zh) (ānxiáng)

• Czech: klidný (cs) m
• Dalmatian: saran
• Dutch: sereen (nl)
• Finnish: seesteinen (fi), rauhallinen (fi), tyyni (fi)
• French: serein (fr) m, sereine (fr) f
• Friulian: seren
• German: gelassen (de), ruhig (de)
• Hungarian: derűs (hu)
• Indonesian: tenteram (id)
• Italian: sereno (it)
• Japanese: 静かな (ja) (しずかな, shizuka na), 平静な (ja) (へいせいな, heisei na)
• Korean: 고요하다 (ko) (goyohada)
• Latin: serēnus
• Macedonian: спо́коен (spókoen), ти́вок (tívok)
• Māori: mauritau
• Norwegian: fredelig (no)
• Occitan: seren (oc)
• Polish: spokojny (pl), opanowany (pl), niewzruszony (pl)
• Portuguese: sereno (pt)
• Romanian: senin (ro)
• Russian: безмяте́жный (ru) (bezmjatéžnyj), споко́йный (ru) (spokójnyj)
• Sardinian: assulenu, selenu
• Spanish: sereno (es)
• Swedish: fridfull (sv), lugn (sv)
• Ukrainian: безтурбо́тний (uk) (bezturbótnyj), спокі́йний (spokíjnyj)
• Walloon: etait (wa) m, etaite (wa) f, påjhire (wa) m or f, li cour etait (wa)

fair and unclouded

• Armenian: հստակ (hy) (hstak), ջինջ (hy) (ǰinǰ), պարզ (hy) (parz), պայծառ (hy) (paycaṙ), անամպ (hy) (anamp)
• Aromanian: sirin
• Bulgarian: ясен (bg) (jasen), безоблачен (bg) (bezoblačen)
• Cebuano: tilha
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: seesteinen (fi), pilvetön (fi), kirkas (fi)
• French: serein (fr) m, sereine (fr) f
• Italian: sereno (it)
• Japanese: 晴れた (ja) (はれた, hareta)
• Latin: serēnus
• Macedonian: ве́дар (védar), чист (čist), ја́сен (jásen), безо́блачен (bezóblačen)
• Polish: pogodny (pl)
• Portuguese: sereno (pt)
• Romanian: senin (ro)
• Russian: чи́стый (ru) (čístyj), безо́блачный (ru) (bezóblačnyj), я́сный (ru) (jásnyj)
• Spanish: sereno (es)
• Walloon: clair (wa) m, claire (wa) f, sins ene barbôjhe

part of royal title

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: jasný (cs) m
• Finnish: kuninkaallinen (fi), keisarillinen (fi) (etc., according to the rank of the dignitary)
• Macedonian: све́тлост f (svétlost)
• Polish: najjaśniejszy
• Russian: светлость (ru) n (svetlostʹ)
• Spanish: sereno (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} sereno (it) m, ^{(please verify)} serena (it) f
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} serenus

Verb

serene (third-person singular simple present serenes, present participle serening, simple past and past participle serened)

1. (transitive) To make serene.
   • 1708, [John Philips], “Book II”, in Cyder. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 68:

     The Hoary Froſts, and Northern Blaſts take care / Thy muddy Bev'rage to ſerene, and drive / Præcipitant the baſer, ropy Lees.

   • a. 1749 (date written), James Thomson, “Spring”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC, page 34, lines 866–867:

     When heaven and earth, as if contending, vye / To raiſe his being, and ſerene his ſoul.

Noun

serene (plural serenes)

1. (poetic) Serenity; clearness; calmness.
   • 1801, Robert Southey, “(please specify the page)”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC:

     the serene of heaven

   • 1742, Edward Young, Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality:

     To their master is denied / To share their sweet serene.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French serein, from Old French serein (“evening”), from Vulgar Latin *serānum, from substantive use of sērum, neuter of sērus (“late”) + -ānus suffix.

Noun

serene (plural serenes)

2. A fine rain from a cloudless sky after sunset.
   • 1605 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, Ben: Ionson His Volpone or The Foxe, [London]: […] [George Eld] for Thomas Thorppe, published 1607, →OCLC, Act III, scene vii, signatures H2, recto – H2, verso:

     Some ſerene blaſt me, or dire lightning ſtrike / This my offending face.

   • 1872 [1636], George Sandys, The Poetical Works of George Sandys: A paraphrase upon the Psalms, page 280:

     ... Nor unwholesome serene shall From the moon's moist influence fall.

   • 1749, John Lowthorp, THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS AND COLLECTIONS To the End of the Year MDCC: ABRIDGED, And Disposed Under GENERAL HEADS., page 861:

     ... to preserve the Brain from the Serenes that fall in hot Countries, and other Injuries of the Air, especially in the Night,  […]

Alternative forms

• serein
• serena (obsolete)

References

• Oxford English Dictionary. serein n. 1.

Anagrams

• reseen, resene

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

serene

1. inflection of sereen:
   1. masculine/feminine singular attributive
   2. definite neuter singular attributive
   3. plural attributive

Esperanto

Etymology

serena +‎ -e

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seˈrene/
• Rhymes: -ene
• Syllabification: se‧re‧ne

Adverb

serene

1. calmly, serenely

Italian

Adjective

serene

1. feminine plural of sereno

Latin

Etymology 1

From serēnus +‎ -ē.

Adverb

serēnē (comparative serēnius, superlative serēnissimē)

1. clearly, brightly

Etymology 2

Adjective

serēne

1. vocative masculine singular of serēnus

References

• “serene”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Portuguese

Verb

serene

1. inflection of serenar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

serene

1. inflection of serenar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Swedish

Adjective

serene

1. definite natural masculine singular of seren