I. sere adjective
also sear ˈsi(ə)r, -iə
( -er/-est )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English sēar; akin to Middle Low German sōr dry, Old High German sōrēn to wither, Latin sudus dry (of weather), Greek hauos dry, hauein to parch, dry, Sanskrit śuṣyati it dries up, withers
1. : dried up : withered
rank summer vegetation turns sere — Marjorie K. Rawlings
sere , cracked mud flats — American Guide Series: California
2. archaic : worn thin : threadbare
sails that were so thin and sere — S.T.Coleridge
II. sere noun
( -s )
1. : a sere period or condition
the sere and autumn of the moss animals' year — William Beebe
2. : sere vegetation
flame was so swift that it barely singed the green grass among the winter sere — John Onslow
III. sere noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French serre grip, grasp, clip — more at sear (catch of a gunlock)
archaic : claw , talon
IV. se·re ˈ(t)sā(ˌ)rā noun
( -s )
Etymology: Hebrew ṣērē, ṣērī, literally, perhaps a split, opening
: a vowel point ‥ written below its consonant indicating Hebrew close e pronounced ā
V. sere ˈsi(ə)r, -iə noun
( -s )
Etymology: Latin series series
: a series of ecological communities that follow one another in the course of the biotic development of an area or formation from pioneer stage to climax — see hydrosere , lithosere , psammosere , xerosere