# cercar
## Catalan
### Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin circāre, from Latin circa, circus. Compare Occitan cercar and French chercher.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central, Balearic) [sərˈka]
* IPA: (Valencia) [seɾˈkaɾ]
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

### Verb

cercar (first-person singular present cerco, first-person singular preterite cerquí, past participle cercat); root stress: (Central) /ɛ/; (Valencia) /e/; (Balearic) /ə/
* (transitive) to look for; to search
    Synonym: buscar

#### Derived terms

* cerca-raons
* cerca-renous
* cerca-renyines
* cerca-revolts
* cercabregues
* cercacables
* cercadits
* cercador
* cercafresses
* cercametalls
* cercapersones
* cercapoals
* cercapols
* cercapous
* cercapromeses
* cercatendències
* cercatofones
* cercatresors
* cercavila
* cercavores

#### Related terms

* recerca
* cercle

### Further reading

* “cercar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “cercar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “cercar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “cercar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Galician
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese cercar (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria), from Late Latin circāre, from Latin circa, circus. Compare Portuguese cercar.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /θeɾˈkaɾ/, (western) /seɾˈkaɾ/

### Verb

cercar (first-person singular present cerco, first-person singular preterite cerquei, past participle cercado)
* to encircle
** 1409, J. L. Pensado Tomé, editor, Rufus, Jordanus: Tratado de Albeitaria, Santiago de Compostela: Centro Ramón Piñeiro, page 135:Para esto ual reer o lugar jnchado et çercallo de semesugas para liurar ende o sange que y ha para seyr foraFor this is valid to scrape the swollen place and then to encircle it with leeches, so freeing the blood that is there, letting it go out
* to fence, to wall
* to surround; to besiege
** 1370, R. Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 284:por njhũa cousa nonnos leixes partir de Troya, desque a cercaren, ata que non seja tomada et ata que toda sua gent non seja destroýda per gran cruezaUnder no circumstance should you release them from Troia, from the very moment that they surround it, not until it is seized and all of its people is destroyed with great cruelty

#### Conjugation

$^1$Less recommended.

#### Derived terms

* cercado
* Cercado

#### Related terms

* cerca
* cerco

### References

* Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “cercar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “cerc”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “cercar”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* “cercar”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
* Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “cercar”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
* “cercar” in Dicionário Estraviz de galego (2014).
* Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “cercar”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

## Italian
### Verb

cercar (apocopated)
* Apocopic form of cercare

## Occitan
### Etymology

From Old Occitan cercar, from Late Latin circāre, from Latin circa, circus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /seɾˈka/
* Audio:(file)

### Verb

cercar
* to look for; to search
* (with de) to seek to, to try, to attempt

#### Synonyms

* quèrre
* boscar
* recercar

#### Derived terms

* cercaire
* cercador

#### Related terms

* cercle

### Further reading

* Joan de Cantalausa (2006) Diccionari general occitan a partir dels parlars lengadocians‎, 2 edition, →ISBN, page 243.

## Old Galician-Portuguese
### Etymology

Inherited from Late Latin circāre.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /t͡seɾ.ˈkaɾ/
* Rhymes: -aɾ

### Verb

cercar
* to encircle, to surround

#### Descendants

* Galician: cercar
* Portuguese: cercar (see there for further descendants)

### Further reading

* Universo Cantigas - "cercar"

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese cercar, from Late Latin circāre, from Latin circa, circus. Compare Galician cercar.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /seʁˈka(ʁ)/ [sehˈka(h)]
* (Brazil) IPA: /seʁˈka(ʁ)/ [sehˈka(h)]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /seɾˈka(ɾ)/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /seʁˈka(ʁ)/ [seχˈka(χ)]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /seɻˈka(ɻ)/
* (Portugal) IPA: /sɨɾˈkaɾ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /sɨɾˈkaɾ/
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /sɨɾˈka.ɾi/
* Hyphenation: cer‧car

### Verb

cercar (first-person singular present cerco, first-person singular preterite cerquei, past participle cercado)
* (transitive) to besiege
* (transitive) to surround

#### Conjugation

$^1$Brazilian Portuguese. $^2$European Portuguese.

#### Derived terms

* descercar

#### Related terms

* cerca

#### Descendants

* Guinea-Bissau Creole: serka

### Further reading

* “cercar”, in iDicionário Aulete (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
* “cercar”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
* “cercar” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
* “cercar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
* “cercar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
* “cercar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

## Spanish
### Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish cercar, from Late Latin circāre, from Latin circa, circus. Cognate with English search.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Spain) /θeɾˈkaɾ/ [θeɾˈkaɾ]
* IPA: (Latin America, Philippines) /seɾˈkaɾ/ [seɾˈkaɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ
* Syllabification: cer‧car

### Verb

cercar (first-person singular present cerco, first-person singular preterite cerqué, past participle cercado)
* (transitive) to corral, fence, fence off

#### Conjugation

$^1$Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language. $^2$Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

#### Derived terms

* cercamiento

#### Related terms

* acercar
* cerca
* cercano
* cerco

### Further reading

* “cercar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10