sere

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Without moisture; dry.

   The autumn winds rushing / Waft the leaves that are searest, / But our flower was in flushing, / When blighting was nearest.

2. 2
   adj

   Of thoughts, etc.: barren, fruitless.

   Our talk had been serious and sober, But our thoughts they were palsied and sere— Our memories were treacherous and sere—.

3. 3
   adj

   Of fabrics: threadbare, worn out.

   The roaring wind! it roar'd far off, / It did not come anear; / But with its sound it shook the sails / That were so thin and sere.

From Middle English ser, sere, schere, seer, seere, seir, seyr, seyre (“different; diverse, various; distinct, individual; parted, separated; many, several”), from Old Norse sér (“for oneself; separately”, dative reflexive pronoun, literally “to oneself”), from sik (“oneself, myself, yourself, herself, himself; ourselves, yourselves, themselves”), from Proto-Germanic *sek (“oneself”), from Proto-Indo-European *swé (“self”). The English word is cognate with Danish sær (“singular”), især (“especially, particularly”), German sich (“oneself; herself, himself, itself; themselves”), Icelandic sig (“...

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