cerno

cerno

1. first-person singular present indicative form of cerndre

cerno

1. first-person singular present indicative of cernere

• necro-

From Proto-Italic *krinō, from Proto-Indo-European *krey- (“to sieve”).

Cognate with Ancient Greek κρίνω (krínō), English ridder, riddle (“sieve”), and possibly English rinse.

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈker.noː/, [ˈkɛrnoː]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃer.no/, [ˈt͡ʃɛrno]

cernō (present infinitive cernere, perfect active crēvī, supine crētum); third conjugation

1. I distinguish, divide, separate, sift

   Synonyms: aufero, eripio, diripio, excludo, distraho, tollo

2. I perceive, see
   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 2.671-672:

     nunc quoque, sē suprā nē quid nisi sīdera cernat,
     exiguum templī tēcta forāmen habent.

     Even now, so that he may see nothing except the stars above him,
     the roof of the temple has a tiny opening.
     (The ancient Romans believed that Terminus (god), protector of boundary stones, had refused to yield the ground of his own shrine – located inconveniently on the site where the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was to be built. And that is why Jupiter's great temple honored the immovable will of Terminus by way of a sacred stone or altar with a clear sightline to the stars.)

   Synonyms: percipiō, sentiō, audiō, videō

3. I (intellectually) comprehend, discern, regard, understand

   Synonyms: agnōscō, cognōscō, inveniō, sentiō, cōnsciō, sapiō, sciō, nōscō, scīscō, intellegō, percipiō, discernō, inveniō, tongeō, audiō

   Antonyms: ignōrō, nesciō

4. I decide

   Synonyms: statuō, dēcernō, parō, cōnstituō, placeō

¹At least one rare poetic syncopated perfect form is attested.

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “cĕrnĕre”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 2: C Q K, page 606

• “cerno”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cerno”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• cerno in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2023) Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
• cerno in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to see clearly, distinctly: cernere et videre aliquid
    
  • the world of sense, the visible world: res quas oculis cernimus
    
  • it is evident from..: cernitur (in) aliqua re (not ex aliqua re)
    
  • to take possession of an inheritance: hereditatem adire, cernere