What does cerner in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word cerner in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use cerner in French.

The word cerner in French means surround, surround, grasp, figure out, work out, shell, dig a ditch around, outline, circle, ring, encircle, figure out, work out. To learn more, please see the details below.

Listen to pronunciation

Meaning of the word cerner

surround

verbe transitif (encercler)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Nous avons cerné l'ennemi.
We have surrounded the enemy.

surround

verbe transitif (entourer, être autour de)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
De hautes montagnes cernaient la ville.
Tall mountains surrounded the town.

grasp

verbe transitif (figuré (comprendre, déterminer) (figurative)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Le directeur n'a pas bien cerné le problème.
The director did not fully grasp the problem.

figure out, work out

verbe transitif (figuré (comprendre)

(phrasal verb, transitive, separable: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning, divisible--for example, "call off" [=cancel], "call the game off," "call off the game.")
Ça fait des années que je travaille avec Yann et je commence à bien le cerner maintenant. J'ai du mal à cerner mon nouveau patron : parfois, il est très avenant, et parfois odieux.
I'm finding it hard to get a handle on my new boss: sometimes he's very affable, other times he's obnoxious.

shell

verbe transitif (enlever la coque)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Il reste encore des noix à cerner.
There are still some nuts to be shelled.

dig a ditch around

verbe transitif (creuser un fossé circulaire)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Il faut cerner un arbre pour pouvoir le déraciner.
You have to dig a ditch around a tree in order to be able to uproot it.

outline

verbe transitif (Art : marquer le contour)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
La caractéristique de cet artiste est de cerner ses dessins.
The artist's trademark is that he outlines his pictures.

circle, ring, encircle

verbe transitif (faire, dessiner un cercle autour de)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
L'entraîneur a cerné la cible de noir pour que les archers la voient mieux.
The coach circled the target in black so that the archers could see it more clearly.

figure out, work out

locution verbale (percevoir le caractère de [qqn])

(phrasal verb, transitive, separable: Verb with adverb(s) or preposition(s), having special meaning, divisible--for example, "call off" [=cancel], "call the game off," "call off the game.")

Let's learn French

So now that you know more about the meaning of cerner in French, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in French.

Do you know about French

French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.