cerco

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈsɛr.ku]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈsər.ko]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈseɾ.ko]

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercar

From Old Galician-Portuguese cerco (“circle”) (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Latin circus.^[1] Cognate with Portuguese cerco and Spanish cerco.

• IPA^(key): /ˈθeɾko̝/, (western) /ˈseɾko̝/

cerco m (plural cercos)

1. (dated) circle
   • 1345, J. Méndez Pérez & al. (eds.), El monasterio de San Salvador de Chantada, Santiago de Compostela: I. Padre Sarmiento, page 261:

     en qual seelo de plomo da huna parte avia sinal d´armas do dito sennor el rey; conven a saber, en a parte de çima primeiro hun castello et huun leon et en fondo huun leon et huun castello et enderredor estavan dous çercos et entre anbos çercos estava huun letreiro

     in which lead seal, in one side, there was the coat of arms of our lord the king, that is, in the upper part first a castle and a lion, and in the bottom a lion and a castle, and around these there were two circles and in between both circles there was a caption

   Synonym: círculo

2. siege
   • 1460, J. A. Souto Cabo (ed.), Crónica de Santa María de Íria. Santiago: Seminario de Estudos Galegos/Ediciós do Castro, page 102:

     Durou este çerco fasta Janeyro; durou çinquo meses fasta que ouverõ sua concordia os caballeyros et cõ a çidade de Santiago, cõ o arçobispo.

     This siege lasted till January; it lasted five months till there were a concord in between the knights and the city of Santiago with the archbishop

   Synonym: asedio

3. (fishing) purse seine

   Synonym: pesca do cerco

4. moon halo
5. rim

• cercar

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “cerco”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “çerco”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “cerco”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “cerco”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cerco”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercar

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃer.ko/
• Rhymes: -erko
• Hyphenation: cér‧co

Unsuffixed past participle of cercare (“to look for”).

cerco (feminine cerca, masculine plural cerchi, feminine plural cerche) (obsolete, Tuscany)

1. (very rare) looked for
2. (participial) past participle of cercare

   Synonym: cercato

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercare

• cerco in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
• cerco in Aldo Gabrielli, Grandi Dizionario Italiano (Hoepli)
• cerco in garzantilinguistica.it – Garzanti Linguistica, De Agostini Scuola Spa
• cerco in Dizionario Italiano Olivetti, Olivetti Media Communication

• croce, rocce

Probably deverbal from cercar.

• Hyphenation: cer‧co

cerco m (plural cercos)

1. siege

   Synonyms: sítio, (uncommon) assédio

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• Hyphenation: cer‧co

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercar

• “cerco”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “cerco”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “cerco”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “cerco”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “cerco”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

• IPA^(key): /ˈθeɾko/ [ˈθeɾ.ko] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /ˈseɾko/ [ˈseɾ.ko] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -eɾko
• Syllabification: cer‧co

Inherited from Latin circus. Doublet of circo, a borrowing.

cerco m (plural cercos)

1. ring (made by dirt)
2. fence

   Synonyms: cerca, verja, valla

3. siege

   Synonyms: asedio, sitio

4. (astronomy) halo

   Synonym: halo

   • 1915, Julio Vicuña Cifuentes, Mitos y Supersticiones Recogidos de la Tradición Oral Chilena, page 227:

     Si hay cerco en la luna, es señal de que la naturaleza está tranquila y no nos sorprenderá con ningún cataclismo.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Borrowed from New Latin cercus, from Ancient Greek κέρκος (kérkos).

cerco m (plural cercos)

1. (entomology) cercus

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

cerco

1. first-person singular present indicative of cercar

• “cerco”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024