kers

From dialectal Dutch kers (“candle”), variant of kaars, from Middle Dutch kerse. The Dutch development -er- → -aar- before a dental consonant is absent in a number of Afrikaans words (compare lantern, perd, stert, werd).

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kers (plural kerse, diminutive kersie)

1. candle

• The diminutive kersie is the same as the noun kersie (“cherry”); it is avoided unless the context is clear.

• IPA^(key): /kɛrs/

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• Hyphenation: kers
• Rhymes: -ɛrs

From Middle Dutch kerse, ultimately from Vulgar Latin ceresia, from the neuter plural of Late Latin ceresium, from Latin cerasium, from Ancient Greek κεράσιον (kerásion, “cherry”), from κερασός (kerasós, “bird cherry”), ultimately possibly of Anatolian origin.

Rode kersen
Red cherries

kers f (plural kersen, diminutive kersje n)

1. A cherry tree, one of certain trees of the genus Prunus, especially the subgenus Cerasus.
2. A cherry, a stone fruit of a cherry tree.

• (cherry fruit): steenfruit, steenvrucht

• ⇒ Afrikaans: kersie (from the diminutive form)
• Negerhollands: kirsch
• → Caribbean Hindustani: kers
• → Malay: kersen (from the plural form)
  • Indonesian: kers, kersen
• → Sranan Tongo: kersi
  • → Caribbean Hindustani: kersi
  • → Caribbean Javanese: kèrsi
• → West Frisian: kers

From Middle Dutch kerse, kersse, from Old Dutch *kersa, *kressa, from Proto-West Germanic *karsjā, *krassjā, from Proto-Germanic *krasjǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *gras-. Cognates include Sanskrit ग्रसति (grasati); related to English cress, German Kresse.

Kresse

kers f (uncountable)

1. cress: a term used of various plants, chiefly but not solely of the family Brassicaceae (crucifers), particularly of the genus Rorippa

kers

1. indefinite genitive singular of ker

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɛrs/
• Hyphenation: kèrs

kèrs (first-person possessive kersku, second-person possessive kersmu, third-person possessive kersnya)

1. (dated) Alternative form of kersen (“cherry”).

• ceri, seri
• kers

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

kers c (plural kersen, diminutive kerske)

1. (Clay) cherry

• kjers (Wood)

• “kers (II)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011