sereno

Forms

sereno (feminine serena, masculine plural serenos, feminine plural serenas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin serēnus (“clear, cloudless; calm”), a learned word.^[2][1][3][4] The same Latin word is Spanish sereno, Italian sereno, Catalan serè and Romanian senin; French serein has been reshaped after the Latin.^[1][5]

The noun “night damp” is the same word.^[2][6] The DLP takes it from serēnum (“fair weather”), the neuter used as a noun.^[6] Nascentes reports that some scholars linked it to sērum (“late hour”), as the vapours of the evening.^[7] Corominas explains the Spanish noun from the phrase for leaving something out in the open at night, which one does only when no rain threatens.^[8]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *kseró- (“dry”) and traces it to Proto-Indo-European *Kseh₁-ró- (“dry”), comparing Ancient Greek ξηρός (xērós, “dry”).^[9] The OLD and Wiktionary call the origin uncertain.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the adjective to the 15th century from the superlative serenyssymos, in the sense “meek”.^[2] Cunha notes that the superlative sereníssimo, a title given to kings and great persons, occurs in the 15th century, and dates the plain adjective to 1572.^[4] The Vita Christi is dedicated ao Serenissimo principe e rei potentissimo “to the most serene prince and most powerful king”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The noun appears in the 16th century.^[4] Cardoso (1569) glosses sereno with Latin sub dio “in the open air”.^[12] Houaiss dates the sense “night dew, evening damp” to 1612.^[2] Morais (1789) defines o sereno da noite as the damp, misty night air, and estar ao sereno as being out in the open.^[13] Folqman (1755) gives the adjective for the air and the weather.^[14]

Brazilian Portuguese gave the noun the senses “drizzle”, “the open air at night” and “night life”.^[2] In the north-east it is also the crowd that gathers in front of a house where a party is held, and in Rio de Janeiro a night bus.^[2][15][1] In Rio Grande do Sul it means the dew on the grass.^[16] The noun passed into Nheengatu as serenu.^[1]

Timeline

• 15th century – the superlative serenyssymos.^[2][4]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses sereno “in the open air”.^[12]
• 1572 – Cunha's date for the adjective.^[4]
• 1612 – Houaiss's date for the noun “night dew”.^[2]
• 1755 – Folqman records tempo sereno.^[14]
• 1789 – Morais defines o sereno da noite and estar ao sereno.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. calm, quiet, without sudden movement: um rio sereno.^[2][1]
2. Showing peace of mind; serene.^[2][17]
3. Of the sky or weather: clear, cloudless, fair.^[2][1]
4. Free from trouble or worry.^[2][6]
5. Level-headed, balanced, impartial.^[2][18]
6. Soft and pleasant to the ear.^[2]

Noun

1. The light dew or damp that falls at dusk or at night.^[2][1][19]
2. (Brazil) A fine, brief rain; drizzle.^[2][1]
3. (Brazil, informal) The open air at dusk or at night; night life.^[2][6]
4. (north-eastern Brazil) A crowd in front of a house where a party is held.^[2][15]
5. (Rio de Janeiro) A night bus.^[2][1]

Word family

• serenamente

Related words

• serenidade
• serenar
• serenata
• Latin serenus
• Spanish sereno

Usage notes

In Brazil ficar no sereno means to stay up all night celebrating, or, in Minas Gerais, to watch a party from outside.^[2]

Houaiss and Aurélio record a separate noun sereno “night watchman”, taken from Spanish sereno, the noun from the adjective: the watchman who walked the streets of Spain calling the hours and the weather.^[2][17] In Lisbon it was a coachman who worked at night, and in Rio Grande do Sul it means a watchman.^[2][17][6] In the Minho sereno is also a name of the serin, a bird, of obscure origin.^[6][19]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. sereno
3. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. sereno
4. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. serenar
5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. serein
6. ^ a b c d e f Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. sereno
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 465
8. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. sereno
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. sereno
12. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. sereno
13. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 394
14. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. sereno
15. ^ a b Navarro, Fred (2004), Dicionário do Nordeste, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade, p. s.v. sereno
16. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. 2
17. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. sereno
18. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. sereno
19. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. sereno