Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SE-RAS'KIER, n.

A Turkish general or commander of land forces.

SE-RASS', n.

A fowl of the East Indies, of the crane kind. – Dict. Nat. Hist.

SERE, a.

Dry; withered; usually written Sear – which see.

SERE, n. [Qu. Fr. serrer, to lock or make fast.]

A claw or talon. [Not in use.] – Chapman.

SER-E-NADE, n. [Fr. from It. and Sp. serenata, from L. serenus, clear, serene.]

1. Properly, music performed in a clear night; hence, an entertainment of music given in the night by a lover to his mistress under her window. It consists generally of instrumental music, but that of the voice is sometimes added. The songs composed for these occasions are also called serenades. – Encyc.
2. Music performed in the streets during the stillness of the night; as, a midnight serenade. Addison.

SER-E-NADE, v.i.

To perform nocturnal music. – Tatler.

SER-E-NADE, v.t.

To entertain with nocturnal music. – Spectator.

SE-RE'NA-GUT'TA, n. [SE-RE'NA GUT'TA. See GUTTA SERENA.]

SER-E-NA'TA, n.

A vocal piece of music on an amorous subject. – Busby.

SE-RENE, a. [Fr. serein; It. and Sp. sereno; L. serenus; Russ. ozariayu, Heb. Ch. Syr. and Ar. זהר, to shine. Class Sr, No. 2, 23, 47.]

1. Clear or fair, and calm; as, a serene sky; serene air. Serene imports great purity.
2. Bright. The moon, serene in glory, mounts the sky. Pope.
3. Calm; unruffled; undisturbed; as, a serene aspect; a serene soul.
4. A title given to several princes and magistrates in Europe; as, serene highness; most serene.

SE-RENE, n.

A cold damp evening. [Not in use.] – B. Jonson.

SE-RENE, v.t.

1. To make clear and calm; to quiet.
2. To clear; to brighten. – Philips.

SE-RENE-LY, adv.

1. Calmly; quietly. The selling sun now shone serenely bright. – Pope.
2. With unruffled temper; coolly. – Prior.

SE-RENE-NESS, n.

The state of being serene; serenity.

SE-REN'I-TUDE, n.

Calmness. [Not in use.] – Wotton.

SE-REN'I-TY, n. [Fr. serenité; L. serenitas.]

1. Clearness and calmness; as, the serenity of the air or sky.
2. Calmness; quietness; stillness; peace. A general peace and serenity newly succeeded general trouble. – Temple.
3. Calmness of mind; evenness of temper; undisturbed state; coolness. I can not see how any men should transgress those moral rules with confidence and serenity. – Locke.
4. A title of respect. – Milton.

SERF, n. [Fr. serf; L. servus. See Serve.]

A servant or slave employed in husbandry, and in some countries, attached to the soil and transferred with it. The serfs in Poland are slaves. – Coxe.

SERF'DOM, n.

The state or condition of serfs.

SERGE, n. [Fr. serge; Sp. xerga, coarse frieze, and jargon; It. sargia, a coverlet; D. sergie.]

A woolen quilted stuff manufactured in a loom with four treddles, after the manner of ratteens. – Encyc.

SER'GEAN-CY, n.

The office of a sergeant at law. – Hacket.

SER'GEANT, n. [sarjent; Fr. sergent; It. sergente; and Port. sargento; from L. serviens, serving, for so was this word written in Latin. But Castle deduces the word from the Persian سَرْجَنک sarchank or sarjank, a prefect, a subaltern military officer. See Cast. Col. 336. If this is correct, two different words are blended.]

1. Formerly, an officer in England, nearly answering to the more modern bailif of the hundred; also, an officer whose duty was to attend on the king, and the lord high steward in court, to arrest traitors and other offenders. This officer is now called sergeant at arms, or mace. There are at present other officers of an inferior kind, who attend mayors and magistrates to execute their orders.
2. In military affairs, a non-commissioned officer in a company of infantry or troop of dragoons, armed with a halberd, whose duty is to see discipline observed, to order and form the ranks, &c.
3. In England, a lawyer of the highest rank, and answering to the doctor of the civil law. – Blackstone.
4. A title sometimes given to the king's servants; as, sergeant surgeon, servant surgeon. – Johnson.

SER'GEANT-RY, n. [sarjentry.]

In England, sergeantry of two kinds; grand sergeantry and petit sergeantry. Grand sergeantry is a particular kind of knight service, a tenure by which the tenant was bound to do some special honorary service to the king in person, as to carry his banner, his sword or the like, or to be his butler, his champion or other officer at his coronation, to lead his host, to be his marshal, to blow a horn when an enemy approaches &c. – Cowel. Blackstone. Petit sergeantry, was a tenure by which the tenant was bound to render to the king annually some small implement of war, as a bow, a pair of spurs, a sword, a lance, or the like. – Littleton.

SER'GEANT-SHIP, n. [sarjentship.]

The office of a sergeant.

SERGE-MAK-ER, n.

A manufacturer of serges.

SE'RI-AL, a.

Pertaining to a series; consisting of a series.