cierge

English

Etymology

From earlier cerge, from Middle English serge, cerge, from Old French cierge, cerge from Latin cereus (“waxy”), from cera (“wax”). The current pronunciation is learnedly taken from modern French cierge (with varying degrees of nativisation).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /sɪə̯dʒ/, /sɪˈɛə̯ʒ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /sɪɹd͡ʒ/, /siˈɛɹʒ/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)dʒ, -ɛə(ɹ)ʒ, -ɛə(ɹ)dʒ

Noun

cierge (plural cierges)

1. A wax candle used in religious rites.
   • 1924, Anne Douglas Sedgwick, “Chapter 7”, in The Little French Girl:

     The fire was lighted in the drawing-room, and in the soft obscurity Toppie with her high golden head looked like a tall white lighted cierge; a Christmas cierge in a votive chapel of a great cathedral; for though so sweet, so almost gay, the background to Toppie's gaiety was something dedicated and remote.

References

• “cierge”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French cierge, cirge, from Latin cereus (“waxy”), from cera (“wax”). The French word has an irregular development, possibly due to its contact with liturgical Latin or perhaps influence from vierge. Compare Dalmatian cir and Italian cero.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sjɛʁʒ/

Noun

cierge m (plural cierges)

1. (religion) cierge (wax candle used in religious rites)
   • 1965, Jacques Brel (lyrics and music), “Ces gens-là”:

     Mais qu’on retrouve matin dans l’église qui roupille / Raide comme une saillie, blanc comme un cierge de Pâques

     But in the morning we find in the drowsy church / Straight as a thrust, white as an Easter candle

2. (botany) cereus

Derived terms

• arriver à la fumée des cierges

Further reading

• “cierge”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.