LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

sērius1

sērius (feminine sēria, neuter sērium, comparative sērior, superlative sērissimus)
Classical[ˈseː.ri.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈsɛː.ri.us]

Meaning

  1. adjectivegrave; earnest; serious

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

vērē, nōn per iocum
sēriō — in Epistulae, ch. 3

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Serius · Severus

Severus (αὐηρός) means, actively, one who cuts no jokes; serius, in a neutral sense, what is no subject for joking; and severe means earnestly; serio, in earnest; whence severus is an epithet for persons, serius for things; Hor. A. P. 105. Decent vultum severum seria dictu. Senec. Tranq. 15. Nihil magnum, nihil severum nec serium quidem ex tanto apparatu putat. Severus is in opp. to hilaris, Cic. Brut. 93, remissus, Orat. ii. 17, luxuriosus, Quintil. xi. 3, 74; whereas serius is in opp. to jucundus, jocosus; and serio to joco, per jocum. Yet severus also supplies the place of serius; particularly in severior, severissimus, and severitas, because serius does not possess these forms. (i. 75.)

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativesēriussēriasērium
genitivesēriīsēriaesēriī
dativesēriōsēriaesēriō
accusativesēriumsēriamsērium
ablativesēriōsēriāsēriō
vocativesēriesēriasērium
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativesēriīsēriaesēria
genitivesēriōrumsēriārumsēriōrum
dativesēriīssēriīssēriīs
accusativesēriōssēriāssēria
ablativesēriīssēriīssēriīs
vocativesēriīsēriaesēria

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

biduo serius
two days late.
ioca et seria agere
to be now jesting, now in earnest.
serio dicere (Plaut. Bacch. 1. 1. 42)
to say in earnest...

sērĭus, a, um, adj. perh. for sevrius; root sev-, severus; Gr. σέβας, σεμνός,
I. grave, earnest, serious, opp. to sportive, jocular (class. only of things; severus, both of persons and things): res (opp. jocosae), Cic. Off. 1, 37, 134: sermo (opp. jocus), Auct. Her. 3, 14, 25: non res potissimum seria, sed quasi ludus ac jocus, Lact. 2, 18, 3: graves seriaeque res, Cic. Off. 1, 29, 103; so, res serias omnis extollo in alium diem, Plaut. Poen. 2, 51: ait rem seriam Velle agere mecum, Ter. Eun. 3, 3, 7; Liv. 23, 7 fin.: dies religiosus ad agendum quicquam rei seriae, id. 26, 17 al.: verba, Tib. 3, 6, 52; cf. Hor. A. P. 107: quaestiones, Suet. Calig. 32: carmina, Plin. Pan. 54, 2: curae, id. ib. 82 fin.: partes dierum, id. ib. 49 fin.: tempus, id. Ep. 4, 25, 3 et saep.: opinor hercle hodie quod ego dixi per jocum, Id eventurum esse et severum et serium, Plaut. Poen. 5, 3, 51: si aliquid serium, etc., Quint. 6, 3, 16: nec quicquam grave ac serium, Tac. A. 3, 50 fin.—With sup.: verba seria dictu, Hor. A. P. 107.—As subst.: sērĭum, i, and more freq. sērĭa, ōrum, n., earnestness, seriousness; serious matters or discourse (often opp. jocus); sing.: si quid per jocum Dixi, nolito in serium convortere, Plaut. Poen. 5, 5, 42: itaque res in serium versa est, Curt. 5, 7, 10: nihil ad serium, Tac. A. 6, 14.—Plur.: quīcum joca, seria, ut dicitur, Cic. Fin. 2, 26, 85: joca atque seria cum humillimis agere, Sall. J. 96, 2: cum his seria ac jocos celebrare, Liv. 1, 4 fin.: per seria per jocos, Tac. A. 2, 13: sed tamen amoto quaeramus seria ludo, Hor. S. 1, 1, 27; 2, 2, 125; id. A. P. 226; Ov. F. 5, 341 al.: mala, Hor. A. P. 451: mea (opp. lusus), Ov. Tr. 1, 8, 31: (Marsus) seria partitur in tria genera, Quint. 6, 3, 108: ille seria nostra, ille deliciae, Plin. Ep. 8, 1, 2.—Of persons, for severus (ante- and post-class.): non ego te novi tristem servum, serium? Afran. ap. Non. 33, 33: amicos serios aspernatur, App. Mag. 98, p. 336, 9: Solon, id. ib. 9, p. 278 fin.; Amm. 26, 2, 2; 29, 6, 1; Treb. Claud. 12, 5; Mam. Grat. Act. 12, 2; Quint. Decl. 15, 3.—Hence, adv. in two forms.
A. sērĭō, in earnest, seriously (mostly anteclass.; a favorite word of Plaut.; not in Cic. or Cæs.): nec joco nec serio, Plaut. Am. 3, 2, 25: si quid dictum est per jocum, Non aequom est id te serio praevortier, id. ib. 3, 2, 40: an id joco dixisti? equidem serio ac vero ratus, id. ib. 3, 3, 9; so (opp. joco) id. Bacch. 1, 1, 42; Ter. Heaut. 3, 2, 30; Liv. 7, 41, 3: vereor serio, Naev. ap. Charis. p. 195; Plaut. Am. 2, 2, 225; id. Cas. 4, 2, 11; id. Ep. 1, 1, 29; id. Merc. 4, 1, 19; id. Ps. 1, 3, 106; 4, 7, 94; id. Poen. 1, 1, 32; 1, 3, 26; 1, 3, 29; id. Rud. 2, 5, 11; 4, 4, 1; id. Truc. 2, 2, 47; 2, 5, 29; Ter. Eun. 3, 1, 3; 3, 3, 22; id. Ad. 5, 9, 18; Liv. 4, 25 fin.; Quint. 1, 2, 1; 9, 2, 14; Plin. Ep. 2, 20, 10.—
B. sērĭē, in earnest, seriously: (post-class.) vultu serie pulcro, Aur. Vict. Epit. 15.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*seh₁-
  2. Proto-Italic*sēros
  3. Latinsērius

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius ? Proto-Indo-European *swer- Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *swerjos? Latin serius Somewhat disputed. There are two main competing hypotheses: * Usually held to derive via Proto-Italic *swerjos from Proto-Indo-European *swer-yo-s, from the root *swer- (“to ache; to be difficult, heavy”). Cognate with Old English swǣr (“heavy, grave, grievous”), German schwer (“hard, difficult, heavy”), Lithuanian sverti (“to weigh, balance”), svarùs (“heavy”). More at sweer. * According to De Vaan, rather from Proto-Italic *sērjos, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁-ro-s + *-yo-, from a proposed root *seh₁- (“to go slowly, be long-lasting”) (cf. sēgnis (“slow, tardy, sluggish, lazy”)). In this case, equivalent to sērus (“slow, tardy”) + -ius, with semantic shift “slow” > “tiring” > “heavy” > “grave, serious”.

Descendants
  • Italianserio
  • Portuguesesério
  • Spanishserio
  • Catalansériofrom Spanish serio
  • Asturianseriu
  • Polishseriofrom Italian serio
  • Siciliansèriufrom Spanish serio
adverb
sērius2
sērius (comparative)
Classical[ˈseː.ri.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈsɛː.ri.us]

Meaning

  1. comparativecomparative degree of sērō
  2. comparativerather late, later, too late
    Sī tē iam, Catilīna, comprehendī, sī interficī iusserō, crēdō, erit verendum mihi, nē nōn hoc potius omnēs bonī sērius ā mē quam quisquam crūdēlius factum esse dīcat.If I should order you, Catiline, to be seized now, to be killed, I believe, I would have to fear that all good men might say this was done by me too late rather than anyone would say it was done too cruelly.63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.5

sērĭus,
I. comp. adv., v. 3. sero.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*seh₁-
  2. Proto-Italic*sēros
  3. Latinsērius

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós Proto-Italic *-ijos Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius ? Proto-Indo-European *swer- Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *swerjos? Latin serius Somewhat disputed. There are two main competing hypotheses: * Usually held to derive via Proto-Italic *swerjos from Proto-Indo-European *swer-yo-s, from the root *swer- (“to ache; to be difficult, heavy”). Cognate with Old English swǣr (“heavy, grave, grievous”), German schwer (“hard, difficult, heavy”), Lithuanian sverti (“to weigh, balance”), svarùs (“heavy”). More at sweer. * According to De Vaan, rather from Proto-Italic *sērjos, from Proto-Indo-European *seh₁-ro-s + *-yo-, from a proposed root *seh₁- (“to go slowly, be long-lasting”) (cf. sēgnis (“slow, tardy, sluggish, lazy”)). In this case, equivalent to sērus (“slow, tardy”) + -ius, with semantic shift “slow” > “tiring” > “heavy” > “grave, serious”.

Quick answers

What does sērius mean in Latin?
sērius, a adjective, means “grave; earnest; serious”.
How do you pronounce sērius?
In classical Latin, [ˈseː.ri.ʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈsɛː.ri.us].
Where does sērius come from?
Proto-Indo-European *seh₁- → Proto-Italic *sēros → Latin sērius.