“Cere” or “Sear” or “Seer” or “Sere”—Which to use?

“Cere” or “Sear” or “Seer” or “Sere”

Overview

cere / sear / seer / sere are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term. 👇

Definitions

cere: (noun) the fleshy, waxy covering at the base of the upper beak of some birds. (verb) wrap up in a cerecloth.

sear: (verb) make very hot and dry.

seer: (noun) an observer who perceives visually.

sere: NA

Pronunciation

cere: NA

sear: s·IH·r

seer: s·IY·r

sere: s·IH·r

Trends

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Examples in Context

Examples of “cere”

…slender bills with a fleshy cere.

Examples of “sear”

Examples of “seer”

…1932 King Gillette hired a seer for $100 a day.
…of Urim and Thummim and Seer Stones
…Banff newspaper under the pseudonym "Seer Altitudinous."
…evidence suggests that these same seer stones were one of the…
Calchas, the great seer, prophesies that King Agamemnon must…
…used a collection of different seer stones in searching for buried…
…is deliberately ironic that the "seer" can "see" better than Oedipus,…
…implies that Smith's use of seer stones and dowsing rods was…

Examples of “sere”

(Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions drawn from WordNet.)

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