cerce

Forms

cerce f (plural cerces)^[1] Old and Middle French cerche;^[2] cherche in 1567 and serche in 1577; the form cerce is recorded by the Académie in 1762.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle French cerche, inherited from Old French cerche, probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *circa, a feminine form of Latin circus (“circle”).^[2][3][1][4] The Vulgar Latin form is inferred from Spanish cerca (“fence”), Portuguese cerca and an Old North Italian word for an enclosure.^[2][1] The modern form probably arose from the older one by progressive assimilation, or more likely under the influence of cerceau.^[2][3]

Littré and the GLLF simply call it another form of cercle, the GLLF adding that the treatment of its last syllable is unclear.^[5][6] Bloch and Wartburg treat it in the same article as that word.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Judeo-French cerche in Rashi's glosses, before 1105, for the woodwork enclosing a millstone.^[2] The GLLF reads the same gloss as a hoop on a belt.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century cerche was the rim or band round an object: the Livre des métiers of Étienne Boileau (1268–71) requires a cerche round every casket worth more than six deniers unless it is made of cowhide.^[2][5] About 1180 the word also named the apse of a church.^[2]

In 1567 Philibert Delorme used cherche for the curve with several centres that gives the profile of an arched part of a building, the architectural sense recorded as cerce by the Académie in 1762.^[2][3] From 1577 serche was the thin, wide board used to make the rims of sieves and drums.^[2][5] Modern technical French also uses it for a template or gauge, such as the iron template that gives a road its camber, and for a clay support used in stacking pottery in the kiln.^[2][8]

Timeline

• before 1105 – Judeo-French cerche appears in Rashi's glosses for the casing of a millstone.^[2]
• c. 1180 – Cerche means an apse in the Roman du Mont Saint-Michel.^[2]
• 1268–71 – The Livre des métiers uses it for the rim of a casket.^[2][5]
• 1567 – Delorme uses cherche for the profile curve of an arch.^[2]
• 1577 – Serche is the thin board for sieves, in a ruling of the Parlement.^[2]
• 1762 – The Académie records the form cerce.^[2][3]
• 1866 – The Larousse of the 19th century has cerce for the board for sieves.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (technical) A thin, wide board of wood used to make the rims of sieves and drums.^[2][8][6]
2. (technical) A template or gauge used to shape a construction to a set profile, as for the camber of a road.^[8][2][6]
3. (architecture) A curve with several centres giving the profile of an arched part of a building.^[2][1]
4. (ceramics) A fired-clay support used in stacking certain wares in the kiln.^[2]
5. (mathematics) A spline.^[1]

Related words

• cercle
• cerceau
• Latin circus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 708a
5. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert