cercar

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [sərˈka]
• IPA^(key): (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/

1. (transitive) to look for; to search

   Synonym: buscar

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.

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^(key): /θeɾˈkaɾ/, (western) /seɾˈkaɾ/

Verb

cercar (first-person singular present cerco, first-person singular preterite cerquei, past participle cercado)

1. 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 fora

     For 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

2. to fence, to wall
3. 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 crueza

     Under 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

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

Verb

cercar (apocopated)

1. Apocopic form of cercare

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seɾˈka/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

cercar

1. to look for; to search
2. (with de) to seek to, to try, to attempt

Conjugation

More information simple, compound ...

		simple			compound
infinitive		cercar			aver cercat
gerund		cercant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		cercat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	cerqui	cercas	cerca	cercam	cercatz	cercan
	imperfect	cercavi	cercavas	cercava	cercàvem	cercàvetz	cercavan
	preterite	cerquèri	cerquères	cerquèt	cerquèrem	cerquèretz	cerquèron
	future	cercarai	cercaràs	cercarà	cercarem	cercaretz	cercaràn
	conditional	cercariái	cercariás	cercariá	cercariam	cercariatz	cercarián
	conditional 2nd form1	cerquèra	cerquèras	cerquèra	cerqueram	cerqueratz	cerquèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cerquem	cerquetz	cerquen
	imperfect	cerquèssi	cerquèsses	cerquèsse	cerquèssem	cerquèssetz	cerquèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			cerca		cerquem	cercatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

Close

    Lengadocian (Central Occitan)

More information simple, compound ...

		simple			compound
infinitive		cercar			aver cercat
gerund		cercant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		cercat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerca	cercam	cercatz	cercon
	imperfect	cercave	cercaves	cercava	cercaviam	cercaviatz	cercavon
	preterite	cerquere	cerqueres	cerquet	cerquem	cerquetz	cerqueron
	future	cercarai	cercaràs	cercará	cercarem	cercaretz	cercarán
	conditional	cercariá	cercariás	cercariá	cercariam	cercariatz	cercarián
	conditional 2nd form1	cerquèra	cerquèras	cerquèra	cerqueram	cerqueratz	cerquèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cercassiam	cercassiatz	cercon
	imperfect	cerquesse	cerquesses	cerquesse	cerquessiam	cerquessiatz	cerquesson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			cerca		cercassiam	cercatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

Close

    Auvernhàs

More information simple, compound ...

		simple			compound
infinitive		cercar			aver cercat
gerund		cercant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		cercat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	cerqui	cercas	cerca	cercam	cercatz	cercan
	imperfect	cercavi	cercavas	cercava	cercàvam	cercàvatz	cercavan
	preterite	cerquèi	cerquès	cerquè	cerquèm	cerquètz	cerquèn
	future	cercarèi	cercaràs	cercarà	cercaram	cercaratz	cercaràn
	conditional	cercarí	cercarés	cercaré	cercarem	cercaretz	cercarén
	conditional 2nd form1	cerquèra	cerquèras	cerquèra	cerqueram	cerqueratz	cerquèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	cerqui	cerques	cerque	cerquem	cerquetz	cerquen
	imperfect	cerquèssi	cerquèsses	cerquèsse	cerquèssem	cerquèssetz	cerquèssen
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			cerca		cerquem	cercatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

Close

    Gascon

More information simple, compound ...

		simple			compound
infinitive		cercar			aver cercat
gerund		cercant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		cercat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	cerque	cercas	cerca	cercam	cercatz	cercan
	imperfect	cercava	cercavas	cercava	cercàvam	cercàvatz	cercavan
	preterite	cerquei	cerqueras	cerquet	cerquèram	cerquèratz	cerqueran
	future	cercarai	cercaràs	cercará	cercarem	cercaretz	cercarán
	conditional	cercariá	cercariàs	cercariá	cercariam	cercariatz	cercarián
	conditional 2nd form1	cerquèra	cerquèras	cerquèra	cerqueram	cerqueratz	cerquèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cerquem	cerquetz	cerquen
	imperfect	cerquèsse	cerquèsses	cerquèsse	cerquèssem	cerquèssetz	cerquèssen
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			cerca		cerquem	cercatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

Close

    Lemosin

More information simple, compound ...

		simple			compound
infinitive		cercar			aver cercat
gerund		cercant			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		cercat			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerca	cercam	cercatz	cercan
	imperfect	cercavi	cercavas	cercava	cercàvem	cercàvetz	cercavan
	preterite	cerquère	cerquères	cerquèt	cerqueriam	cerqueriatz	cerquèron
	future	cercarai	cercaràs	cercarà	cercarem	cercaretz	cercaràn
	conditional	cercariáu	cercariás	cercariá	cercariam	cercariatz	cercarián
	conditional 2nd form1	cerquèra	cerquèras	cerquèra	cerqueram	cerqueratz	cerquèran
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cerquem	cerquetz	cercan
	imperfect	cerquèsse	cerquèsses	cerquèsse	cerquessiam	cerquessiatz	cerquèsson
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			cerca		cerquem	cercatz	1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects

Close

    Provençau

Further reading

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