cercar

Catalan

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

Conjugation

infinitive			cercar
gerund			cercant
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		cercat		cercada
		plural		cercats		cercades
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	cerco	cerques	cerca	cerquem	cerqueu	cerquen
	imperfect	cercava	cercaves	cercava	cercàvem	cercàveu	cercaven
	future	cercaré	cercaràs	cercarà	cercarem	cercareu	cercaran
	preterite	cerquí	cercares	cercà	cercàrem	cercàreu	cercaren
	conditional	cercaria	cercaries	cercaria	cercaríem	cercaríeu	cercarien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	cerqui	cerquis	cerqui	cerquem	cerqueu	cerquin
	imperfect	cerqués	cerquessis	cerqués	cerquéssim	cerquéssiu	cerquessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	cerca	cerqui	cerquem	cerqueu	cerquin
	negative (no)	—	no cerquis	no cerqui	no cerquem	no cerqueu	no cerquin

    Conjugation of cercar (first conjugation, c-qu alternation)

Derived terms

• cerca-raons
• cerca-renous
• cerca-renyines
• cerca-revolts
• cercabregues
• cercacables
• cercadits
• cercador
• cercafresses
• cercametalls
• cercapersones
• cercapoals
• cercapols
• cercapous
• cercapromeses
• cercatendències
• cercatofones
• cercatresors
• cercavila
• cercavores

Related terms

• recerca
• cercle

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.

Galician

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

Conjugation

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	cercar
Personal	cercar	cercares	cercar	cercarmos	cercardes	cercaren
Gerund
	cercando
Past participle
Masculine	cercado			cercados
Feminine	cercada			cercadas
Indicative
Present	cerco	cercas	cerca	cercamos	cercades	cercan
Imperfect	cercaba	cercabas	cercaba	cercabamos	cercabades	cercaban
Preterite	cerquei	cercaches	cercou	cercamos	cercastes	cercaron
Pluperfect	cercara	cercaras	cercara	cercaramos	cercarades	cercaran
Future	cercarei	cercarás	cercará	cercaremos	cercaredes	cercarán
Conditional	cercaría	cercarías	cercaría	cercariamos	cercariades	cercarían
Subjunctive
Present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cerquemos	cerquedes	cerquen
Imperfect	cercase	cercases	cercase	cercásemos	cercásedes	cercasen
Future	cercar	cercares	cercar	cercarmos	cercardes	cercaren
Imperative
Affirmative		cerca	cerque	cerquemos	cercade	cerquen
Negative (non)		non cerques	non cerque	non cerquemos	non cerquedes	non cerquen

    Conjugation of cercar (c-qu alternation)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	cercar
Personal	cercar	cercares	cercar	cercarmos	cercardes	cercarem
Gerund
	cercando
Past participle
Masculine	cercado			cercados
Feminine	cercada			cercadas
Indicative
Present	cerco	cercas	cerca	cercamos	cercades, cercais	cercam
Imperfect	cercava	cercavas	cercava	cercávamos	cercávades, cercáveis, cercávais1	cercavam
Preterite	cerquei	cercaste, cercache1	cercou	cercamos	cercastes	cercárom, cercaram
Pluperfect	cercara	cercaras	cercara	cercáramos	cercárades, cercáreis, cercárais1	cercaram
Future	cercarei	cercarás	cercará	cercaremos	cercaredes, cercareis	cercarám, cercarão
Conditional	cercaria	cercarias	cercaria	cercaríamos	cercaríades, cercaríeis, cercaríais1	cercariam
Subjunctive
Present	cerque	cerques	cerque	cerquemos	cerquedes, cerqueis	cerquem
Imperfect	cercasse	cercasses	cercasse	cercássemos	cercássedes, cercásseis	cercassem
Future	cercar	cercares	cercar	cercarmos	cercardes	cercarem
Imperative
Affirmative		cerca	cerque	cerquemos	cercade, cercai	cerquem
Negative (nom)		nom cerques	nom cerque	nom cerquemos	nom cerquedes, nom cerqueis	nom cerquem

    Reintegrated conjugation of cercar (c-qu alternation) (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

¹Less recommended.

Derived terms

• cercado
• Cercado

Related terms

• cerca
• cerco

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

Italian

Verb

cercar (apocopated)

1. Apocopic form of cercare

Occitan

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

		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

    Lengadocian (Central Occitan)

		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

    Auvernhàs

		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

    Gascon

		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

    Lemosin

		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

    Provençau

Synonyms

• quèrre
• boscar
• recercar

Derived terms

• cercaire
• cercador

Related terms

• cercle

Further reading

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