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Origin and history of *ser-

*ser-(1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to protect." It might form all or part of: conservation; conservative; conserve; observance; observatory; observe; preserve; reservation; reserve; reservoir.

It might also be the source of: Avestan haurvaiti "to guard;" Latin servare "to guard, keep, watch;" Old Church Slavonic xraniti "to guard, protect;" Old High German gi-sarwi "armor, equipment," Old English searu "art, skill; wile, deceit."

*ser-(2)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to line up."

It might form all or part of: assert; assertion; assort; consort; desert (v.) "to leave one's duty;" desertion; dissertation; ensorcell; exert; exsert; insert; seriatim; seriation; series; sermon; serried; sorcerer; sorcery; sort.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit sarat- "thread;" Greek eirein "to fasten together in rows;" Latin serere "to join, link, bind together," series "row, chain, series, sequence, succession;" Gothic sarwa (plural) "armor, arms;" Old Norse sörve "necklace of stringed pearls;" Old Irish sernaid "he joins together;" Welsh ystret "a row."

Entries linking to *ser-

assert(v.)

c. 1600, "declare;" 1640s, "vindicate, maintain, or defend by words or measures," from Latin assertus, past participle of asserere/adserere "to claim, lay claim to, appropriate," from ad "to" (see ad-) + serere "to join together, put in a row" (from PIE root *ser- (2) "to line up"). Related: Asserted; asserting. To assert oneself "stand up for one's rights or authority" is recorded from 1879.

assertion(n.)

early 15c., assercioun, "a declaration, confirmation" from Old French assercion (14c.) or directly from Late Latin assertionem (nominative assertio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin asserere/adserere "to claim, lay claim to, appropriate," from ad "to" (see ad-) + serere "join together, put in a row" (from PIE root *ser- (2) "to line up"). By "joining oneself" to a particular view, one "claimed" or "maintained" it. Attested from mid-15c. as "an unsupported statement."

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assort
late 15c., "to distribute into groups or classes," from Old French assorter "to assort, match" (15c., Modern French assortir), from a- "to" (see ad-) + sorte "kind, category," from Latin sortem (nominative sors) "lot; fate, destiny; share, portion; rank, category; sex, class, ora
conservation
late 14c., conservacioun, "preservation of health and soundness, maintenance in good condition, act of guarding or keeping with care," from Latin conservationem (nominative conservatio) "a keeping, preserving, conserving," noun of action from past-participle stem of conservare "t
conservative
late 14c., conservatyf, "tending to preserve or protect, preservative, having the power to keep whole or safe," from Old French conservatif, from Medieval Latin conservativus, from Latin conservatus, past participle of conservare "to keep, preserve, keep intact, guard," from assi
sore
Compare Old Saxon ser "pain, wound," Middle Dutch seer, Dutch zeer, Old High German ser, Old Norse sar, Gothic sair....
serum
This is held to be from PIE *sero- "flowing, liquid," from verbal root *ser- "to run, flow" (source also of Greek oros "whey...
observance
to, guard, regard, comply with," from ob "in front of, before" (see ob-) + servare "to watch, keep safe," from PIE root *ser...
number
c. 1300, "sum, aggregate of a collection," from Anglo-French noumbre, Old French nombre and directly from Latin numerus "a number, quantity," from PIE root *nem- "assign, allot; take." The meaning "written symbol or figure of arithmetic value" is from late 14c. The meaning "singl
Hollywood
region near Los Angeles, named for the ranch that once stood there, which was named by Deida Wilcox, wife of Horace H. Wilcox, Kansas City real estate man, when they moved there in 1886. They began selling off building lots in 1891 and the village was incorporated in 1903. Once a
disdain
mid-14c., desdeinen, "think unworthy or worthless, look upon with contempt," from Old French desdeignier "disdain, scorn, refuse, repudiate" (Modern French dédaigner), from des- "do the opposite of" (see dis-) + deignier "treat as worthy," from Latin dignari "to deem worthy or fi

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