serene

See also: Serene, serené, and Serēnē

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /səˈɹiːn/
  • (US) IPA(key): /səˈɹin/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -iːn

Etymology 1

From Middle English, borrowed from Latin serēnus (clear, cloudless, untroubled).

Adjective

serene (comparative more serene or serener, superlative most serene or serenest)

  1. Calm, peaceful, unruffled.
    Synonyms: cool-headed, placid; see also Thesaurus:calm
    She looked at her students with joviality and a serene mentality.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 6:
      Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.
  2. Without worry or anxiety; unaffected by disturbance.
    Synonyms: easygoing, unconcerned; see also Thesaurus:carefree
    • 1908, Andy Adams, Reed Anthony, Cowman:
      I took train and reached Wichita, where my active partner was awaiting me. He had just returned from the Medicine River, and reported everything serene.
  3. (archaic) Fair and unclouded (as of the sky); clear; unobscured.
  4. Used as part of certain titles, originally to indicate sovereignty or independence.
    Her Serene Highness
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

serene (third-person singular simple present serenes, present participle serening, simple past and past participle serened)

  1. (transitive) To make serene.

Noun

serene (plural serenes)

  1. (poetic) Serenity; clearness; calmness.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French serein, from Old French serein (evening), from Vulgar Latin *serānum, from substantive use of sērum, neuter of sērus (late) + -ānus suffix.

Noun

serene (plural serenes)

  1. A fine rain from a cloudless sky after sunset.
    • 1605 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, Ben: Ionson His Volpone or The Foxe, [London]: [] [George Eld] for Thomas Thorppe, published 1607, →OCLC, Act III, scene vii, signatures H2, recto – H2, verso:
      Some ſerene blaſt me, or dire lightning ſtrike / This my offending face.
    • 1872 [1636], George Sandys, The Poetical Works of George Sandys: A paraphrase upon the Psalms, page 280:
      ... Nor unwholesome serene shall From the moon's moist influence fall.
    • 1749, John Lowthorp, THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS AND COLLECTIONS To the End of the Year MDCC: ABRIDGED, And Disposed Under GENERAL HEADS., page 861:
      ... to preserve the Brain from the Serenes that fall in hot Countries, and other Injuries of the Air, especially in the Night,  []
Alternative forms

References

  • Oxford English Dictionary. serein n. 1.

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Audio:(file)

Adjective

serene

  1. inflection of sereen:
    1. masculine/feminine singular attributive
    2. definite neuter singular attributive
    3. plural attributive

Esperanto

Etymology

serena +‎ -e

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /seˈrene/
  • Rhymes: -ene
  • Hyphenation: se‧re‧ne

Adverb

serene

  1. calmly, serenely

Italian

Adjective

serene

  1. feminine plural of sereno

Latin

Etymology 1

From serēnus +‎ .

Adverb

serēnē (comparative serēnius, superlative serēnissimē)

  1. clearly, brightly

Etymology 2

Adjective

serēne

  1. vocative masculine singular of serēnus

References

Portuguese

Verb

serene

  1. inflection of serenar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

serene

  1. inflection of serenar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Swedish

Adjective

serene

  1. definite natural masculine singular of seren