Serrying

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Drawing together or arranging in tight, compact rows or lines, as soldiers do when forming a unified defensive formation
2. Pressing or crowding into close-packed ranks and files, creating a dense, organized alignment of people or things
3. Forming tight, ordered rows by moving close together, as when troops array themselves shoulder to shoulder for battle

Etymology: "Serrying" is the present participle of "serry," a verb that English borrowed from French "serré," the past participle of "serrer," meaning "to tighten." The French word traces back through Middle and Old French to Vulgar Latin "serrare," "close, shut," which was built on Late Latin "serare," "fasten, bolt," itself from Latin "sera," a bar or bolt for a door. The image is therefore one of latching something firmly into place. That bolt-and-lock origin explains the sense of the word. To serry is to press things so closely together that no gaps remain, and in battle this meant soldiers locking their shields and ranks into a solid front. The Spanish "cerrar," meaning "to shut" or "close," belongs to the same family, so the verb has kept its sense of closing a gap across several languages.