cerne

Forms

cerne m or (proscribed) f (plural cernes)^[1] Old French and Anglo-Norman cerne, also cern and kerne, and cherne in the 14th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin circinus (“pair of compasses, circle”).^[3][4][5][6] The Latin word is a diminutive of circus (“circle”), the source of cirque and, through a diminutive, of cercle.^[4][3] The verb cerner is not formed on this noun but comes from the derived Latin verb circinō (“to make round, go round in a circle”).^[4]

Cognate with Romanian cearcăn (“halo around the moon, ring around the eyes”) and Italian cercine (“carrying pad worn on the head”), the Italian word with a changed ending.^[7][5] Littré notes that Spanish and Italian keep the stress of the Latin word on the first syllable.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1119 in Philippe de Thaon's Comput, meaning a circle.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century cerne meant a circle in general,^[5][9] and in particular the circle a magician traced on the ground (1220–40), a sense Trévoux called old in 1752.^[3][4] It then gave way to cercle, and cerne narrowed to a ring-shaped mark around something:^[4] around the eyes (between 1354 and 1377, in the Livres du roi Modus), around the moon (1458, Gréban), around a wound (1694, Académie).^[3] It has named one of the rings of a tree trunk cut across since 1820, and a ring left on cloth by a badly removed stain since 1867.^[3][10] Littré also recorded hunting and falconry senses: an enclosure for driving game, and the vol à grand cerne of hawks.^[8]

The noun gave cernure (1562, cerneure), taken up again in 1863 for the ring of tiredness around the eyes, and the cosmetic anticernes (1981).^[4]

Timeline

• 1119 – Philippe de Thaon uses it for a circle in his Comput.^[3][4]
• 1220–40 – Henri d’Andeli uses it for a magician's circle.^[3]
• 1354–1377 – The Livres du roi Modus has le cherne around the pupil of the eye.^[3]
• 1458 – Arnoul Gréban uses it for the ring around the moon.^[3][4]
• 1562 – The derivative cerneure is recorded.^[4]
• 1694 – The Académie records it for the mark around a wound.^[3][4]
• 1752 – Trévoux calls the sense “magician's circle” old.^[3]
• 1820 – It names a growth ring of a tree.^[3][10]
• 1867 – Larousse records a ring-shaped stain on cloth.^[3][10]
• 1981 – Anticernes appears.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dark, bluish or brownish ring that sometimes shows around the eyes: Elle avait des cernes après la nuit de garde.^[10][9]
2. A livid ring around a wound or a bruise.^[10][8]
3. A mark left on cloth by the edge of a badly cleaned stain.^[10][3]
4. One of the concentric growth rings seen in a tree trunk cut across.^[10][8]
5. (art) A line drawn around a shape.^[3]
6. (old) A circle, especially one traced on the ground by a magician.^[9][8]

Word family

• cernure
• anticernes

Related words

• cerner
• cercle
• cirque
• Latin circinus

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q 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
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 700b
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert