cerno Latin · revision 2950
15 Oct 2026, 19:24 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Plautus|origins=ine-pro *krey-}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈkɛr.noː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈt͡ʃɛr.no]^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Forms==
+ '''cernō''' (present infinitive cernere, perfect active crēvī, supine crētum); third conjugation^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*krin-e/o-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*kr̥-n-i-|t=to sift, separate]], a nasal present of the root that Wiktionary gives as [[ine-pro|*krey-|t=to sieve]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Its original participle became the adjective [[certus]], and the verb formed a new participle, [[m|la|crētus]], after the perfect [[m|la|crēvī]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ Cognate with [[grc|κρίνω|tr=krī́nō|t=to separate, judge]],^(de Vaan 2008)^(OLD 2012) and related to [[cribrum|alt=crībrum]] “sieve” and [[crimen|alt=crīmen]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ It is found from Plautus onwards.^(de Vaan 2008) Cato tells the farmer to pass dried iris root through a sieve, ''per cribrum cernas''.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ Its first sense was to [[m|en|sift]].^(OLD 2012) From this it came to mean to distinguish or separate, and to decide, as in Cicero's law “whatever the senate has decided”.^(OLD 2012) ''Cernere hereditatem'' was to formally accept an inheritance.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ From distinguishing came seeing clearly, as in Ennius' “I see a light in the sky”, and grasping with the mind.^(OLD 2012) Cicero also used it for examining something.^(OLD 2012) Its compounds [[decerno|alt=dēcernō]] and [[discerno|alt=discernō]] gave English ''decree'' and ''discern''.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Etymonline) It survives as Romanian ''cerne'', Italian ''cernere'' and Spanish ''cerner'' “to sift”.^(Wiktionary)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for discerning.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it for seeing a light.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for sifting.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for deciding and for accepting an inheritance.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Verb===
+ # To [[m|en|sift]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ # To distinguish, separate.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # To decide, determine.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # ''cernere hereditatem'' To accept an inheritance formally.^(OLD 2012)
+ # To see, discern.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # To perceive, understand.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # To examine.^(OLD 2012)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[cernentia]]
+ * [[concernō]]
+ * [[crētiō]]
+ * [[cretura]]
+ * [[dēcernō]]
+ * [[discernō]]
+ * [[excernō]]
+ * [[incernō]]
+ * [[incrētus]]
+ * [[percernis]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[certābundus]]
+ * [[certāmen]]
+ * [[certātim]]
+ * [[certātiō]]
+ * [[certātivē]]
+ * [[certātor]]
+ * [[certātus]]
+ * [[certē]]
+ * [[certificō]]
+ * [[certitūdō]]
+ * [[certus]]
+ * [[crībrum]]
+ * [[en|discern]]
+ * [[en|decree]]
+ * [[en|secret]]
+
+ ==Usage notes==
+ Döderlein distinguishes ''videre'', seeing in general, from ''cernere'', seeing clearly and distinctly.^(Döderlein 1874)
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}