sierra English · revision 10254

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1613|origins=es sierra|origins=la serra}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /siˈɛɹə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|sierra|t=jagged mountain range]], literally a saw,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Latin [[m|la|serra|t=a saw]] (see [[serrate]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) which is of unknown origin;^(Etymonline) de Vaan suggests PIE *sers-h-, cutting off, and a link with Latin sarīre, to hoe.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A range of hills or mountains with jagged peaks, in Spain or Latin America: 1613, in ''Purchas his Pilgrimage'', in Barnhart and the OED, the 1610s in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster dates it to 1600, the SOED to the mid-16th century.^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It figures in many names of mountain chains in Spain and in the regions Spain explored and colonized.^(Etymonline) In general use for any such range it is from 1807.^(OED 1989) In astronomy it was a name for the chromosphere of the sun (1851),^(OED 1989) and it is also the name of a Spanish mackerel.^(OED 1989)^(AHD) ''Sierra'' is the communications code word for the letter S.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1613 – a Spanish mountain range.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1807 – any jagged range.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1851 – the chromosphere.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1952 – code word for S.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A rugged range of [[mountain]]s with a jagged outline.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A Spanish mackerel of the Pacific coast of tropical America.^(AHD)

+ # A code word for the letter S.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sierran]]

+ * [[Sierra Leone]]

+ * [[Sierra Nevada]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[serrated]]

+ * [[serration]]

+ * [[serrate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage usage note advises that in formal contexts a range such as the Sierra Nevada is better called the Sierras than the Sierra Mountains, since mountains is inherent in sierra.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}