sereneness 
sereneness (se-ren'nes), w. The state of being 
serene or tranquil ; serenity. 
The serenenesse of a healthful! conscience. 
Fettham, Resolves, i. fi. 
sereness, - Si-c wnw. 
serenifyt, c. . [< ML. serexijicarr, make serene, 
< L. sereinis, serene, + fucere, make.] To be- 
come serene. 
It's now thefaire, vinnllion, pleasant spring, 
When meadowes laugh, and heaven serenefies. 
lieneeimtii. Passengers' Dialogues (1612). (Nares.) 
serenitude (se-ron'i-tud), H. [< ML. sercnitudo, 
for L. xereniti'ts, serenity: see serenity.'] Tran- 
quillity; serenity. 
A future quietude and serenitude in the affections. 
Sir U. Wotton, Reliquiae, p. 79. 
serenity (sf-ren 'i-ti), n. ; pi. serenities (-tiz). 
[< OF. serenite, F. serenlte = Pr. serenitat = Sp. 
gcrenidad = Pg. serenidade = It. serenita, < L. 
serenita(t-)s, clearness, serenity, < scrcnus, clear, 
serene: see serene 1 .'] 1. The quality or con- 
dition of being serene ; clearness ; calmness ; 
quietness; stillness; peace: as, the serenity of 
the air or sky. 
They come out of a Country which never hath any Kains 
or Fogs, but enjoys a constant serenity. 
Dampier, Voyages, I. 186. 
2. Calmness of mind; tranquillity of temper; 
placidity. 
I cannot see how any men should ever transgress those 
moral rules with confidence and serenity, were they innate. 
Locke, Human Understanding, I. iii. 13. 
Like to a good old age released from care, 
Journeying in long serenity away. Bryant, October. 
3. A title of dignity or courtesy given to cer- 
tain princes and high dignitaries. It is an ap- 
proximate translation of the German Durcli- 
lauclit, more commonly rendered Serene High- 
ness. See serene 1 , 3. 
There is nothing wherein we have more frequent occa- 
sion to employ our Pens than in congratulating your Se- 
renities [the Duke and Senate of Venice] for some signal 
Victory. Milton, Letters of State, Oct., 1667. 
The army [of Pumpernickel] was exhausted in provid- 
ing guards of honor for the Highnesses, Serenities, and 
Excellencies who arrived from all quarters. 
Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Ixiii. 
serenizet (se-re'uiz), r.. t. [< serene 1 + -ize.~\ To 
make serene; hence, to make bright; glorify. 
And be ray Grace and Goodnesse most abstract, 
How can I, wanting both, serenize Thee? 
Dames, Muses' Sacrifice, p. 33. (Dames.) 
Serenoa (se-re'no-a), n. [NL. (Sir J. D. Hooker, 
1883), named after Dr. Serena Watson, curator 
of the herbarium of Harvard University.] A 
genus of palms, of the tribe Coryphese. It is dis- 
tinguished from the genus Sabal, the palmetto, in which 
it was formerly included, by its valvate corolla, and fruit 
tipped witli a slender terminal style, and containing a 
somewhat cylindrical seed with sub-basilar embryo and 
solid albumen. The only species, S. serrulata, is a native 
of Florida and South Carolina, known as saw-palmetto from 
the spiny-edged petioles. It is a dwarf palm growing in 
low tufts from a creeping branching caudex, which is clad 
with a network of fibers. The coriaceous leaves are termi- 
nal and orbicular, deeply parted into many narrow two- 
cleft segments. The white flowers are borne on a long, 
woolly, and much-branched spadix which is sheathed at 
the base by numerous spathes. The fruit is black, and 
about an inch in diameter. 
serenoust (se-re'nus), a. [< ME., < L. serenus, 
serene : see serene.] Serene. 
In lande plesaunt and serenous thai cheve, 
In every kynde as easy is to preve. 
PaUadius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. 8.), p. 63. 
serewoodt, See searwood. 
sereynt, An obsolete form of siren. 
serf (serf), n. [< OF. (and F.) serf, fern, serve 
= Pr. serf = Sp. siervo = Pg. It. servo, < L. 
servus, a slave : see seme 1 .] 1. A villein; one 
of those who in the middle ages were incapa- 
ble of holding property, were attached to the 
land and transferred with it, and were subject to 
feudal services of the most menial description ; 
in early Kng. hist., one who was not free, but 
by reason of being allowed to have an interest 
in the cultivation of the soil, and a portion of 
time to labor for himself, had attained a status 
superior to that of a slave. 
The slave, indeed, still remained [in the fourteenth cen- 
tury), though the number of pure serfs bore a small pro- 
portion to the other cultivators of the soil. . . . But even 
this class had now acquired definite rights of its own ; 
and. although we still find instances of the sale of serfs 
"with their litter," or family, apart from the land they 
tilled, yet, in the bulk of cases, the amount of service due 
from the serf had become limited by custom, and, on its 
due rendering, his holding was practically as secure as 
that of the freest tenant on the estate. 
J. R. Green, Short Hist, of Eng. People, v. 4. 
The serf was bound to the soil, had fixed domestic rela- 
tions, and participated in the religious life of the society; 
and the tendency of all his circumstances, as well as of 
5507 
the opinions and sentiments of the time, was in the direc- 
tion of liberation. Encyc. Brit., XIX. 352. 
2. A laborer rendering forced service on an 
estate under seigniorial prescription, as for- 
merly in Russia. 
In Russia, at the present moment, the aristocracy are 
dictated to by their emperor much as they themselves 
dictate to their serfs. II. Spencer, Social Statics, p. 401. 
The next important measure was the emancipation of 
the serfs in IStil. . . . The landlords, on receiving an in- 
demnity, now released the serfs from their seigniorial 
rights, and the village commune became the actual prop- 
erty of the ierf. Encyc. Brit., XXI. 102. 
3. Figuratively, an oppressed person ; a menial. 
= Syn. Serf, Slave. The serf is, in strictness, attached to 
the soil, and goes with it in all sales or leases. The slam 
is absolutely the property of his master, and may be sold, 
given away, etc.. like any other piece of personal property. 
See definitions otpeon and coolie. See also servitude. 
serfage (ser'faj), M. [< serf + -age. Cf. servage.] 
Same as serfdom. 
The peasants have not been improved by liberty. They 
now work less and drink more than they did in the time 
of serfage. D. M. Wallace, Russia, p. 40. 
serfdom (serf'dum), n. [< serf + -dom.'] The 
state or condition of a serf. 
Whenever a lord provided his slave with an outfit of 
oxen, and gave him a part in the ploughing, he rose out 
of slavery into serfdom. 
Seebohm, Eng. Vll. Community, p. 405. 
The Tories were far from being all oppressors, disposed 
to grind down the working-classes into serfdom. 
George Eliot, Felix Holt, iii. 
serfhood (serf 'hud), . [<. serf + -hood.'] Same 
as serfdom. 
serfism (ser'fizm), n. [< serf + -ism.'] Same 
as serfdom. 
Serg. An abbreviation of sergeant. 
sergantt, A Middle English form of sergeant. 
serge 1 (serj), n. [< ME. *serge, sarge (= D. ser- 
gie = Or. sersche, sarsche = Dan. Sw. sars), < OF. 
serge, sarge, F. serge = Pr. serga, sirgua = Sp. 
sarga = Pg. sarja = It. sargia (ML. reflex serga, 
sarga, sargea), cloth of wool mixed with silk or 
linen, serge (cf. ML. serica, sarica, a silken tu- 
nic, later applied to a coarse blouse), < L. seri- 
ca, fern, of serious, silken, neut. pi. serica, silken 
garments: see Seric, sericeous, silk.] If. A 
woolen cloth in use throughout the middle ages, 
apparently of coarser texture than say. 
By ordinaunce thurghout the citee large, 
Hanged with cloth of gold, and nat with sarge. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 1710. 
Ah, thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord ! 
Shale., 2 Hen. VI., iv. 7. 27. 
2. A kind of twilled fabric, woven originally 
of silk, but now commonly of worsted. It is re- 
markably strong and durable. Silk serges are 
used chiefly for tailors' linings Serge de Berry, 
a soft woolen material used for women's dresses. Silk 
serge, see silk. 
serge' 2 t, See cerge. 
The candelstik . . . watj cayred thider sone ; . . . 
Hit wats not wonte in that wone [place] to wast [burn] no 
serges. Alliterative Poem* (ed. Morris), ii. 1489. 
serge 3 t, v. An obsolete variant of search. 
Prompt. Pare., p. 453. 
serge 4 t, An obsolete variant of scarce. Hal- 
liu-ell. 
sergeancy, serjeancy (sar'- or ser'jen-si), . 
[< sergcan(f) + -cy.] Same as sergeantship. 
The lord keeper who congratulated their adoption to 
that title of serjeancy. 
Bp. Ilacket, Abp. Williams, p. 110. (Latham.) 
sergeant, Serjeant (sar'- or ser'jent), . [Early 
mod. E. also serjant ; < ME. sergeant, sergeaunt, 
serjant, serjaunt, serjawnt, sergant, < OF. ser- 
geant, sergent, serjant, sergient, sergant, F. ser- 
gent = Pr. servent, sirvent = Sp. Pg. sargento, 
also Sp. sirviente = Pg. servente, a servant, = It. 
sergente, sergeant, also servente, servant, < ML. 
servien(t-)s, a servant, vassal, soldier, apparitor 
(cf. serviens ad legem, 'sergeant at law'; servi- 
ens arniorum, 'sergeant at arms'), prop, adj., < 
L. servien(t-)s, ppr. of servire, serve : see seme 1 . 
Doublet of servant. For the variations of spell- 
ing, sergeant, Serjeant, see below.] If. [In this 
and the next four senses usually spelled ser- 
jeutit."] A servant; a retainer; an armed at- 
tendant; in the fourteenth century, one holding 
lands by tenure of military service, commonly 
used as not including those who had received 
knighthood (afterward called esquires). Ser- 
jeants were called to various specific lines of 
duty besides service in war. 
Holdest thou thanne hym a myhty man that hath envy- 
rowned hyse sides with men of armes or seriauntz. 
Chaucer, Boethius, iii. prose 5. 
A maner sergeant was this privee man, 
The which that faithful ofte he founden hadde 
In thinges grete. Chaucer, Clerk's Tale, 1. 563. 
sergeant 
Than com oute of the town knyghtes and sergeatnites 
two thousande, and be-gonne the chase vpon hem that 
turned to Wight Merlin (E. E. T. 8. .', ii. 211. 
Hence 2f. An officer of an incorporated mu- 
7iici]iality who was charged with duties corre- 
sponding to those previously or elsewhere per- 
formed by an officer of the crown. 
And the xxiiij. Comyners that cheseth the lawe Bailly, 
at that tyme beynge present, to chese the ij. seriaunt* for 
the lowe Bailly. English Gilds (E. E. T. S.), p. 395. 
He gave Licence to the City of Norwich to have Coro- 
ners and Bailiffs, before which Time they had only a Ser- 
jeant for the King to keep Courts. 
Baker, Chronicles, p. 50. 
Hence, also St. A substitute upon whom a 
Serjeant was allowed to devolve the personal 
discharge of his duties ; a bailiff. 
Seriaicnt, undyr a domys maim, for to a-rest menn, or 
a catchepol (or baly). Apparitor, satelles, angarius. 
Prompt. Pan., p. 463. 
This fell sergeant, death, 
Is strict in his arrest. Shak., Hamlet, v. 2. 347. 
4. One of a body or corps attendant on the 
sovereign, and on the lord high steward on the 
trial of a peer ; a serjeant-at-arms. 5. [In this 
sense the modern spelling is Serjeant.'] In 
England and Ireland, a lawyer of high rank. 
Serjeants at law are appointed by writ or patent of the 
crown, from among the utter barristers. While they have 
precedence socially, they are professionally inferior to 
queen's counsel ; formerly, however, the king s (or queen's) 
premier Serjeant and ancient Serjeant had precedence of 
even the attorney-general and solicitor-general. Till the 
passing of the Judicature Act, 1873, the judges of the su- 
perior English common-law courts had to be Serjeants; 
nut this is not now required. No Serjeants have been 
created since 1868, and the rank will in all likelihood 
soon become extinct. 
Seriauntes hij semede that seruen atte barre, 
To plede for penyes and poundes the lawe. 
Piers Plowman (C), i. 160. 
A Sergeant of the Lawe, war and wys, . . . 
And every statut coude he pleyn by rote. 
Chaucer, Gen. Pro!, to C. T., 1. 309. 
" Serjeant Buzfuz and Mr. Skimpin for the plaintiff," 
said the judge. IHckens, Pickwick, xxxiv. 
6. In Virginia, an officer in towns having pow- 
ers corresponding to those of constable ; in 
cities, an officer having powers connected with 
the city court corresponding to those of sheriff, 
and also charged with collecting city revenues. 
7. A non-commissioned officer of the army 
and marines in the grade next above corporal, 
and usually selected from among the corporals 
for his intelligence and good conduct. He is ap- 
pointed to preserve discipline, to teach the drill, and to 
command detachments, as escorts and the like. Every 
company has four sergeants, of whom the senior is the 
color-sergeant. A superior class are the staf-sergeants (see 
staff-sergeant); and ahove all is the sergeant-major. See also 
color-sergeant, commissary-sergeant, drill-sergeant, lance- 
sergeant, quartermaster-sergeant. Abbreviated Serg. 
Why should I pray to St. George for victory when I may 
go to the Lord of Hosts, Almighty God himself ; or con- 
sult with a Serjeant, or corporal, when I may go to the 
general? Donne, Sermons, ix. 
Two cotor-seryeants, seizing the prostrate colors, con- 
tinued the charge. PreMe, Hist. Flag, p. 154. 
8. A police officer of superior rank. 
The sergeants are presented. . . . We have the whole 
Detective Force from Scotland Yard, with one exception. 
Dickens, The Detective Police. 
9. A servant in monastic offices. 10. In 
icltth., the sergeant-fish. Common sergeant or 
Serjeant. See common. Covering sergeant, a ser- 
geant who, during the exercise of a battalion, stands or 
moves behind each officer commanding or acting with a 
platoon or company. [Eng.] Inferior sergeants or 
(preferably) Serjeants, Serjeants of the mace in corpora- 
tions, officers of the county, etc. There are also Ser- 
jeants of manors, etc. [Eng.] King's or queen's ser- 
geant or (preferably) Serjeant, the name given to one or 
more of the Serjeants at law (see def. 5), whose presumed 
duty is to plead for the king In causes of a public nature, 
as indictments for treason. (Eng.] Orderly sergeant. 
See orderly. Pay-sergeant, a sergeant appointed to pay 
the men and to account for all disbursements. Prime or 
premier sergeant or (preferably) Serjeant, the queen's 
(or king's) first serjeant at law. [Eng.] Provost ser- 
geant. See provost. Sergeant-at-arms, serj eant-at- 
arms. (a) An armed attendant; specifically, a member 
of a corps said to have been instituted by Richard I. of 
England. It consisted originally of twenty-four persons, 
not under the degree of knight, whose duty it was to be in 
immediate attendance on the king s person. One is as- 
signed by the crown to attend each house of parliament 
The lord chancellor, the lord treasurer, and on great occa- 
sions the lord mayor of London were each thus attended. 
One, usually the one attending the House of Lords, is an 
officer of the Supreme Court, to make arrests, etc. 
For the bailiffes of a Cite purvey ye must a space, 
A yeman of the crowne, Sargeaunt of armes with mace. 
Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 187. 
Each house had also its serjeant-at-arms, an officer whose 
duty it was to execute the warrants and orders of the 
house while in session. Slubbs, Const Hist., 434. 
(6) A similar attendant on the king's person in France. 
(c) An executive officer in certain legislative bodies. In the 
United States Senate he serves processes, makes arrests, 
