serge

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sarge, later serge,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Old French sarge, also serge,^{[6][5][7][3][8]} from Vulgar Latin *sārica,^{[9][3][6][10]} a popular form of Latin sērica, short for the Latin phrases for silken wool and silken garment,^{[6][9][10][7]} the feminine of sēricus (“silken”),^[9][3][11] from Ancient Greek σηρικός (sērikós, “silken, of the Seres”),^[9][3] from Σῆρες (Sêres), a people of eastern Asia, perhaps the Chinese.^[9][12][10] Etymonline and the Middle English Dictionary also name Medieval Latin sargium and sargea, cloth of wool mixed with silk or linen.^[5][2][7] The same Latin source gives Provençal serga, sarga and sarja,^[6] while from French the word passed into the Germanic languages, as German Sarsche and sargie.^[6][5] It is therefore a cousin of silk.^[10][4] The verb, to overcast an edge, is a back-formation from serging, from the noun.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A woollen cloth: sarge is used in the Wycliffite Bible of 1382 to render Latin sagum, a curtain,^[6][7] and Chaucer's Knight's Tale (about 1385) has the cloth itself.^[6][2][13]

Semantic evolution

The OED thinks the cloth first named must have been silk, though nothing in early English or Romance use shows this: names of fabrics often pass to cheaper and coarser materials.^[6][5] Before the 16th century serge is mentioned mostly for hangings and coverings;^[6][8] it later named a strong, durable fabric of worsted.^[5] From 1583 a serge was also a garment of it,^[6] and since 1844 silk serge was a silk twilled like serge.^[6] In sewing, a serge-stitch to finish a raw edge is recorded by the 1860s,^[5] serging from 1908,^[6][11] and the serger, a machine for it, by 1905.^[5]

Timeline

• 1382 – sarge, a curtain, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[6][7]
• c. 1385 – a woollen cloth, in Chaucer.^[6][2]
• 1583 – a garment made of serge.^[6]
• 1601 – figurative use, in Ben Jonson.^[6]
• 1844 – silk serge.^[6]
• 1860s – serge-stitch, to finish a raw edge.^[5]
• 1908 – serging, overcasting stitches.^[6][11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A durable twilled fabric of worsted or wool, with a diagonal rib, used for suits and uniforms: a navy serge blazer.^{[14][11][9][6]}
2. A similar twilled fabric of cotton, silk or rayon.^[14][11][4]
3. A garment made of serge.^[6][4]

Verb

1. To overcast the raw edges of fabric, usually by machine, to stop them fraying.^[11][9]

Related words

• silk
• seric
• sericeous
• serger

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ a b c d e f g h The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins