sere¹

[seer] /sɪər/

adjective

dry; withered.

Also, sear.

Origin

before 900; Middle English seer(e), Old English sēar; see sear¹

Synonyms

arid, parched, desiccated, wizened.

sere²

[seer] /sɪər/

noun

the series of stages in an ecological succession.

Origin

1915-20; back formation from series

Examples from the web for sere

It is something from the sere and yellow of a period much older than the present.
The millions that around us are rushing into life cannot always be fed on the sere remains of foreign harvests.
We picked up speed and hauled through sere yellow farmland.

British Dictionary definitions for sere

sere¹

/sɪə/

adjective

(archaic) dried up or withered

verb, noun

a rare spelling of sear¹ (sense 1)

Word Origin

Old English sēar; see sear1

sere²

/sɪə/

noun

the series of changes occurring in the ecological succession of a particular community

Word Origin

C20: from series

Word Origin and History for sere

adj.

Old English sear "dried up, withered, barren," from Proto-Germanic *sauzas (cf. Middle Low German sor, Dutch zoor), from PIE root *saus- "dry" (cf. Sanskrit susyati "dries, withers;" Old Persian uška- "dry" (adj.), "land" (n.); Avestan huška- "dry;" Latin sudus "dry"). A good word now relegated to bad poetry. Related to sear. Sere month was an old name for "August."

sere in Science

sere

(sîr)
The entire sequence of ecological communities successively occupying an area from the initial stage to the climax community. See more at succession.

Related Abbreviations for sere

SERE

survival, evasion, resistance, escape