ser

ser

1. Abbreviation of serial.

ser (plural sers)

1. (historical) An old Indian unit of weight, equal to 80 tolas, or one fortieth of a maund.

From Middle English ser. Popularised in modern fantasy by George R. R. Martin in the A Song of Ice and Fire series starting in 1996.

ser (plural sers)

1. (archaic, now chiefly fantasy) Alternative spelling of sir

   Would ser care to dine this evening?

   • 1996, George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One, Bantam, →ISBN:

     "Ser Willem is a good man and true,” said Ser Oswell.
     “But not of the Kingsguard,” Ser Gerold pointed out.

   • 2014 January 16, Miles Cameron, The Fell Sword, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     Lady Mary – the Queen's handmaiden – was Ser Gawain's lady; her veil fluttered from his shoulder.

   • 2023 July 21, Ivan Lekoski, Invictus, Austin Macauley Publishers, →ISBN:

     You don't strike me as an ordinary soldier, are you perchance Ser Lancelot Germaine of the Round Table?

• res., ERs, res, RSE, RES, Res., ERS, SRE, ers, -ers, ESR

From Early Medieval Latin essere, from Latin esse.

• IPA^(key): /ˈseɾ/,

ser

1. to be

• Gramática de la Llingua Asturiana
• Normes ortográfiques
• Oslin-Ast

ser m (plural seres)

1. being

• ser humanu

ser

1. tooth

   niser — my tooth

   eser — a tooth, someone's tooth

   nitorak to eser — I found a/someone's tooth

• Languages of the Amazon (2012, →ISBN

• ésser

Perhaps borrowed from Aragonese or Spanish ser. Doublet of ésser.

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencia)

• Audio:

  (file)

ser (first-person singular present soc, first-person singular preterite fui, past participle estat or sigut); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/

1. (intransitive) to be, to exist

   Ser o no ser, aquesta és la qüestió.

   To be or not to be, that is the question.

2. (intransitive, +adverbial phrase) to be located (to be in a place)
3. (transitive, copulative) to be (used to connect a noun to another noun)
4. (transitive, copulative) to have a characteristic (used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes an inherent property)
5. (auxiliary) auxiliary verb to form the passive voice, together with a past participle

   han estat enganyats

   they have been deceived

• This is one of two verbs that can be translated as to be, the other being estar. Ser/ésser indicates an inherent quality, whereas estar indicates temporary qualities that apply only at a particular time. Ser/ésser relates to estar as essence relates to state, etymologically as well as semantically.

• o sigui
• semblar ser

Nominalization of Etymology 1.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Valencia)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) unknown

ser m (plural sers)

1. being (living creature)

• “ser” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “ser” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From clipping of English server.

ser

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, computing) server (Classifier: 個／个 c; 部 c)

• server

From clipping of English search.

• sear

ser

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, computing) to search on the Internet; to google

• search (soe1 cyu4)

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -ɛr

ser

1. second-person singular imperative of srát

• IPA^(key): /seːr/,

ser

1. present of se

From Old Galician-Portuguese ser, from Early Medieval Latin essere, from Latin esse. The forms son (“I am”) and sodes pl (“you are”) derive from a Vulgar Latin *sonō and *sutis.

Along the way, the verb absorbed Old Galician-Portuguese seer < Latin sedēre (“sit”). The latter supplied the present subjunctive of modern ser, where /-ʃ-/ reflects Late Latin /-(d)j-/, as in sexa < sedeat).

• IPA^(key): /ˈseɾ/
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Hyphenation: ser

ser (first-person singular present son, first-person singular preterite fun, past participle sido)
ser (first-person singular present sou, first-person singular preterite fum or fui, past participle sido, reintegrationist norm)

1. (copulative) to be

   Brais é moi alto ― Brais is very tall.

2. (auxiliary) to be; forms the passive voice
3. (intransitive) to be (to have as one’s place of origin)
4. (intransitive) to be (someone’s); to belong to
5. (intransitive) to be for; to be to (to have as its purpose)
6. (intransitive) to be; indicates persistence or reiteration
   • 1929, Antolín Santos Mediante, Escolma:

     anque o matrimoño é cruz,
     i eu negá-lo non pretendo,
     dous son a cargar con ela
     que sempre se alivia o peso

     even though the marriage is a cross,
     I don't mean to deny it,
     there are two carrying it,
     that always relieves the weight

Like Portuguese and Spanish, Galician has two different verbs that are usually translated to English as “to be”. The verb ser relates to essence, origin, or physical description. In contrast, the verb estar relates to current state or position.

• ser quen (“to be able to; to dare”)

ser m (plural seres)

1. being (living creature)

• estar

• “ser”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024
• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “ser”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

• IPA^(key):
• Hyphenation: ser
• Rhymes: -ɛr

ser (countable and uncountable, plural serek)

1. (archaic, dialectal, humorous) Alternative form of sör (“beer”).

An archaic and dialectal variant of sör, but today it can also be humorous in informal conversations. In compound words and derivations, almost only sör is used.

• ser , redirecting to sör in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Clipping of messer.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛr/
• Rhymes: -ɛr
• Hyphenation: sèr

ser m

1. (historical) sir (title and form of address for a gentleman, shortened from messer)

   Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ― Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (literally, “Leonardo son of Peter, from Vinci”)

ser (Latin spelling, Hebrew spelling סיר)

1. to be

From Proto-Loloish *swa² (Bradley), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Burmese သွား (swa:), Japhug tɯɕɣa, Tibetan སོ (so), Drung sa, Tedim Chin ha:², Jingpho wa.

• IPA^(key):

ser 

1. (Yao'an) tooth

• IPA^(key): /sɛː/

From French sœur.

ser

1. sister

   Synonym: didi

From French cher.

ser

1. dear
2. expensive

ser

1. (title and pronoun) sir, lord
   • 1301-1350, Van den VII vroeden van binnen Rome. Een dichtwerk der XIVde eeuw (INL)

     Garijn, ser Diederecs sone

     Garijn, sir Diederec's son

   • 1414, Hennen van Merchtenen's Cornicke van Brabant (INL)

     Als ijemen sterven plach, hinc men daer teken ser wapen

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “ser (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

ser

1. Alternative form of sire
   • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, page 40:

     And I seide, “Ser, in his tyme maister Ioon Wiclef was holden of ful many men the grettis clerk that thei knewen lyuynge vpon erthe.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

ser

1. Alternative form of sere (“dry”)

ser

1. Alternative form of sere (“differing”)

From Early Medieval Latin essere, from Latin esse.

• IPA^(key): /ˈseɾ/

ser

1. to be (indicates a permanent quality)

ser m (plural seres)

1. being

• star

From Proto-Iranian *cŕ̥Hah, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ćŕ̥Has (“head, top”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱŕ̥h₂-os, derived from the root *ḱerh₂- (“head, horn”). As used in the sense of "over" displaced wer, which got the sense of "around" instead.

• serî

ser m (Arabic spelling سەر)

1. (anatomy) head

   Synonym: kelle

2. point, tip
3. beginning, start
4. end, extremity
5. (colloquial, vulgar) penis, dick

• bi ser keftin ("to succeed")
• birin serî ("to bring to an end, get it over with")
• ser dan ("to visit")
• sereke ("main")
• serok, serek ("president")
• bi ser va bûn ("to belong to")
• va ser kirin, bi ser va kirin, kirin ser, bi ser xistin ("to add, put on")
• bi ser da birin ("to deceive, tempt")

Same as above.

ser (Arabic spelling سەر)

1. on, on top (with li (“on; at”))

   Antonym: bin

   li ser maseyê ― on the table

2. over (with bi (“with”) or di ... re (“through”))

   di ser me ra bihurî ― passed over us

   bi ser ketin ― win, win over; literally "get over, get on top"

• Chyet, Michael L. (2020) “ser I”, in Ferhenga Birûskî: Kurmanji–English Dictionary (Language Series; 2), volume 2, London: Transnational Press, page 233
• Chyet, Michael L. (2020) “ser II”, in Ferhenga Birûskî: Kurmanji–English Dictionary (Language Series; 2), volume 2, London: Transnational Press, page 234

• IPA^(key): /seːr/
• Rhymes: -eːr

ser

1. present of se

ser

1. present of sjå

• IPA^(key): /sɛr/

ser

1. (intransitive) to run aground

ser

1. An exclamation used to attract the attention of two or more people.

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

ser

Wikipedia ^pl

• syr (obsolete)

Inherited from Old Polish syr, from Proto-Slavic *syrъ. Doublet of żur.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛr
• Syllabification: ser
• Homophone: sir

ser m inan (diminutive serek, related adjective serowy or (obsolete) serny)

1. (uncountable) cheese (dairy product made from curdled or cultured milk)

   Hypernym: nabiał

2. (countable) cheese (any particular variety of cheese)
3. (countable) cheese (piece of cheese, especially one moulded into a large round shape during manufacture)

   Hypernym: porcja

• ser in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• ser in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Brückner, Aleksander (1927) “ser”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna

From Old Galician-Portuguese ser, from Early Medieval Latin essere, from Latin esse. The forms sou (“I am”) and sois pl (“you are”) derive from a Vulgar Latin *sonō and *sutis.

Along the way, the verb absorbed Old Galician-Portuguese seer < Latin sedēre (“sit”). The latter supplied the present subjunctive of modern ser, where /-ʒ-/ reflects Late Latin /-(d)j-/, as in seja < sedeat).

• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Homophones: sê (Brazil), cê (Brazil) (with -r dropping)
• Hyphenation: ser

ser (first-person singular present sou, first-person singular preterite fui, past participle sido)

2. (copulative) to be (to have the given quality), especially a quality that is intrinsic or not expected to change, contrasting with estar which denotes a temporary quality

   Ela está bonita, mas não é bonita.

   She is looking beautiful, but she is not beautiful.

4. (transitive) to be (to be an example or type of, or the same as)

   Pessoas são mamíferos.

   People are mammals.

   A soma de um e dois é três.

   The sum of one and two is three.

6. (auxiliary) to be; forms the passive voice

   O carro foi vendido pelo seu antigo dono.

   The car was sold by its previous owner.

   Espero que os criminosos sejam punidos.

   I hope the criminals are punished.

8. (intransitive) to be; indicates a point in time

   Que horas são?

   What time is it?

   São cinco horas.

   It is five o’clock.

10. (intransitive) to be in (to be located in)

    Synonyms: ficar em, localizar-se em

    Minha casa é num bairro pobre.

    My house is in a poor neighbourhood.

    Onde são essas cidades?

    Where are these cities?

12. (intransitive) to be (to have as one’s place of origin)

    Synonym: vir de

    Esses equipamentos são da Alemanha.

    These pieces of equipment are from Germany.

    Nenhum de nós é de um país estrangeiro.

    None of us is from a foreign country.

14. (intransitive) to be (someone’s); to belong to

    Synonym: pertencer a

    Essa casa é do prefeito.

    This house belongs to the mayor.

    Não mexa em nada que não for seu.

    Don’t touch anything that is not yours.

16. (intransitive) to be for; to be to (to have as its purpose)

    Synonym: servir para

    Esse tipo de faca é para cortar tomates.

    This type of knife is for cutting tomatoes.

18. (impersonal) to be supposed to; should; introduces an expected or demanded action

    Synonym: dever

    Não sei porque está demorando, já era para o filme ter começado.

    I don’t know why it is taking so long, the film should have started already.

    É para comermos toda a carne.

    We are supposed to eat all the meat.

20. (transitive) to be; to cost (to be worth a given amount of money)

    Synonyms: custar, valer

    Duas maçãs são dez centavos.

    Two apples are ten cents.

22. (intransitive) to happen; to take place; to occur

    Synonyms: acontecer, haver, ocorrer, ter, produzir-se, realizar-se, sobrevir, suceder

    O que será, será.

    Whatever happens happens.

    Quando é seu aniversário?

    When is your birthday?

24. (intransitive) to be against or in favour of

    Alguns foram contra a guerra, mas a maioria foi a favor.

    Some were against the war, but most were in favour.

26. (poetic, intransitive) to exist; to be

    O mal não é.

    Evil does not exist.

28. (impersonal, transitive) used for emphasis

    Eu é que vim.

    I’m the one who came here.

Portuguese has two different verbs that are usually translated to English as “to be”: generally ser relates to essence, contrasting with estar, which relates to state.

Contrast the following:

• O homem está feliz. ― The man is happy.
• O homem é feliz. ― The man is happy.
• Você está louco? ― Are you crazy ?
• Você é louco? ― Are you crazy ?
• Ela está em casa. ― She is at home.
• Ela é do Brasil. ― She is from Brazil.
• Ela está no Brasil. ― She is in Brazil.

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ser.

• (forms the passive voice): any reflexive pronoun

• estar
• ter
• haver

ser m (plural seres)

1. being (a living creature)

   Synonyms: criatura, ente

For quotations using this term, see Citations:ser.

• ser humano
• ser vivo

Borrowed from Latin serum, French sérum. Cf. also zer.

• IPA^(key): /ser/

ser n (plural seruri)

1. serum

ser (Sursilvan)

1. Alternative form of seser

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *śěrъ.

• IPA^(key): /séːr/

sẹ̑r (comparative bȍlj sẹ̑r, superlative nȁjbolj sẹ̑r)

1. (archaic) grey, gray (color/colour)

   Synonym: siv

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /sɛ́ːr/

sȇr m anim

1. vulture of the genus Gypaetus

   brkati ser ― bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus)

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

• “ser”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “ser”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

From Early Medieval Latin essere, from Latin esse. The form sois pl (“you are”) derives from a Vulgar Latin *sutis.

Along the way, the verb absorbed Old Spanish seer < Latin sedēre (“sit”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈseɾ/
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: ser

ser (first-person singular present soy, first-person singular preterite fui, past participle sido)

1. to be (essentially or identified as)

   Yo soy de los Estados Unidos. ― I am from the United States.

   Errar es humano. ― To err is human.

   • 2007, El Sueño de Morfeo, Nada es Suficiente:

     ¿Qué voy a ser si te he dado lo que soy?

     What am I going to be if I've given you what I am?

   • 2007, El Sueño de Morfeo, Para Toda la Vida:

     Si fueras una gota de agua, nadie volvería a tener sed

     If you were a drop of water, no one would thirst again

2. to be (in the passive voice sense)

   La guitarra fue tocada. ― The guitar was played.

3. to exist; to occur

   La fiesta será mañana. ― The party will be tomorrow.

Spanish has two different verbs that are usually translated to English as "to be": ser, which relates to essence, and estar, which relates to state; these verbs are generally not interchangeable. Contrast the following:

• El hombre está feliz. ― The man is happy .
• El hombre es feliz. ― The man is happy .
• ¿Estás loco? ― Are you crazy ?
• ¿Eres loco? ― Are you crazy ?
• El hombre está en España. ― The man is in Spain.
• El hombre es de España. ― The man is from Spain.
• ¿Cómo estás? ― How are you?
• ¿Cómo eres? ― What are you like?

The "essence/state" distinction between the two verbs is often misinterpreted as a "permanent/temporary" distinction. In most contexts these distinctions are practically synonymous (including all of the above examples) but there exist cases in which they are not, and using the latter distinction can lead one to choosing the incorrect verb. For example:

• Mi abuelito está muerto. ― My grandad is dead. (Here está is used instead of es because death is a state, even though it is permanent.)
• ¡Todavía somos jóvenes! ― We are still young! (Here somos is used instead of estamos because a person's age is seen as a defining characteristic rather than a state, even if it is not permanent.)

Also, when stating the location of an object (but not an event), estar is used, regardless of whether the location is permanent or not:

• Madrid está en el centro de España. ― Madrid is in central Spain.

In the preterite indicative and the imperfect and future subjunctive, the conjugation of ser is identical to that of ir ("to go"). Thus, for example, yo fui can mean either "I was" or "I went", depending on context.

• estar

ser m (plural seres)

1. a being, organism
2. nature, essence
3. value, worth

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

• IPA^(key): /seːr/

ser

1. present indicative of se

• ers, res

Borrowed from English sir.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈseɾ/
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: ser

ser (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒᜇ᜔)

1. (colloquial) sir (A respectful term of address to a man of higher rank or position [often older], especially if his name or proper title is unknown)

   Synonyms: ginoo, maginoo

• Don

From Persian سر (sar).

ser (definite accusative seri, plural serler)

1. (archaic) head

• (head): baş, kafa

ser

1. second-person singular imperative of sermek

ser

1. zero

From Old Welsh serr, Proto-Celtic *serrā. Cf. Middle Irish serr.

• IPA^(key): /sɛr/

ser m (plural serrod or serroedd, not mutable)

1. billhook, sickle, scythe
2. (dictionary) sword

• (scythe): pladur

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “ser”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
• Matasović, Ranko (2009) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 9), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN