serried

serried
\ \ [17] The phrase serried ranks is first recorded in William Wilkie’s Epigoniad 1757, but it was clearly inspired by Milton’s ‘Nor serv’d it to relax their serried files’ in Paradise Lost 1667. It means ‘rows crowded close together’, and serried is the past participle of a now obsolete verb serrypress together’. This was borrowed from serré, the past participle of Old French serrerclose’, which went back via Vulgar Latin *serrāre to Latin sērāre, a derivative of the noun seralock, bolt’.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Serried — Ser ried, a. [See {Serry}.] Crowded; compact; dense; pressed together. [1913 Webster] Nor seemed it to relax their serried files. Milton. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • serried — index compact (dense), solid (compact) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • serried — pressed close together, 1667 (in Paradise Lost ), pp. of serry to press close together (1580s), a military term, from M.Fr. serre close, compact, pp. of serrer press close, fasten, from V.L. *serrare to bolt, lock up, from L. serare, from sera… …   Etymology dictionary

  • serried — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ (of rows of people or things) standing close together. ORIGIN from archaic serry «press close», probably from French serré close together …   English terms dictionary

  • serried — [ser′ēd] adj. [pp. of obs. serry < Fr serrer, to crowd < LL serare, to lock: see SERAGLIO] placed close together; crowded; compact, as soldiers in ranks …   English World dictionary

  • serried — [17] The phrase serried ranks is first recorded in William Wilkie’s Epigoniad 1757, but it was clearly inspired by Milton’s ‘Nor serv’d it to relax their serried files’ in Paradise Lost 1667. It means ‘rows crowded close together’, and serried is …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • serried — [[t]se̱rid[/t]] ADJ: ADJ n Serried things or people are closely crowded together in rows. [LITERARY] ...serried rows of law books and law reports. ...the serried ranks of fans. Syn: dense …   English dictionary

  • Serried — Serry Ser ry, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Serried}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Serrying}.] [F. serrer, LL. serrare, serare, from L. sera a bar, bolt; akin to serere to join or bind together. See {Serries}.] To crowd; to press together. Note: [Now perhaps only in… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • serried — adjective Date: 1667 1. crowded or pressed together ; compact < the crowd collected in a serried mass W. S. Maugham > 2. [by alteration] marked by ridges ; serrate < the serried contours of the…mountains American Guide Series: Oregon > •… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • serried — serriedly, adv. serriedness, n. /ser eed/, adj. pressed together or compacted, as soldiers in rows: serried troops. [1660 70; SERRY + ED2] * * * …   Universalium

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