English
secern
Secern comes from Latin sēcernō ‘to put apart, divide, separate, sever, sunder’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *krey-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to divide, separate, sift’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krinōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernō‘to divide, separate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcernō‘to put apart, divide, separate, sever, sunder’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcernerepresent active infinitive of sēcernō
- Englishearliest quotation 1631secern
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*krey-‘to divide, separate, sift’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*krinōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcernō‘to divide, separate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcernō‘to put apart, divide, separate, sever, sunder’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsēcernerepresent active infinitive of sēcernō
- Englishearliest quotation 1631secern
Earliest quotation: 1631, Francis Bacon, VII. Century. [Experiment Solitary Touching Pilosity and Plu: “[…] Birds bee commonly better Meat than Beaſts, becauſe…”
The story
Learned borrowing from Latin sēcernere, the present active infinitive of sēcernō (‘to put apart, divide, separate, sever, sunder; (figuratively) to disjoin, dissociate, part; to discern, distinguish; to exclude, pull aside, set aside, reject’), from sē- (prefix meaning ‘apart; aside; away’) + cernō (‘to divide, separate; to distinguish, sift; to perceive, see; to comprehend, discern, regard, understand; to decide’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krey- (‘to divide, separate, sift’)). Senses 1.3 and 2.2 (‘synonym of secrete’) derive from the use of the Latin word sēcernere to translate Ancient Greek ἀποκρίνειν (apokrínein), the active infinitive participle of ἀποκρίνω (apokrínō, “to set apart, separate; to choose; to reject on inquiry; to answer, reply”).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *krey- ‘to divide, separate, sift’
crime, criminal, certain, crisis, secret, critic, critique, riddle, discreet, hypocrite, criterion, endocrine, incriminate, rime, discernible, incrimination, discernment, excrete, recrimination, ridder, criterium, certitude, 42 more
through Latin cernō ‘to divide, separate’
discrimination, discretion, discrete, discriminate, excrement, excretion, discern, 7 more
through Latin sēcernō ‘to put apart, divide, separate, sever, sunder’
through Latin sēcernere
Today it means
verb To separate or set apart (someone or something from other persons or things).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *krey- / secern