bercer

Inherited from Middle French [Term?], from Old French bercier (“to rock”), from Vulgar Latin *bertiāre, via Gaulish from Proto-Celtic *berta- (“to shake”), related to *bereti (“to carry”). See berceau (“cradle”).

• IPA^(key): /bɛʁ.se/

• Audio:

  (file)

bercer

1. to cradle; to rock
   • 1943, Antoine Saint-Exupéry, chapter VII, in Le petit prince [The Little Prince], New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 31:

     Il y avait, sur une étoile, une planète, la mienne, la Terre, un petit prince à consoler ! Je le pris dans les bras. Je le berçai.

     On one star, one planet, my planet, the Earth, there was a little prince to be comforted. I took him in my arms, and rocked him.

This verb is part of a group of -er verbs for which 'c' is softened to a 'ç' before the vowels 'a' and 'o'.

• avoir été bercé trop près du mur
• berceuse

• berceau

• → Ido: bersar

• “bercer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

bercer

1. alternative form of berser

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-c, *-cs, *-ct are modified to z, z, zt. In addition, c becomes ç before an a, o or u to keep the /ts/ sound intact. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.