serge
Pronunciation
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
- 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]
- A similar twilled fabric of cotton, silk or rayon.[14][11][4]
- A garment made of serge.[6][4]
Verb
Related words
- silk
- seric
- sericeous
- serger
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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)
- ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
- ^ a b c d e f g h The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
- ^ Stratmann, Francis Henry (1891), A Middle-English Dictionary, revised by Henry Bradley, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins