-er

¹

1. a suffix used in forming nouns designating persons from the object of their occupation or labor ( hatter; tiler; tinner; moonshiner ), or from their place of origin or abode ( Icelander; southerner; villager ), or designating either persons or things from some special characteristic or circumstance ( six-footer; three-master; teetotaler; fiver; tenner ).
2. a suffix serving as the regular English formative of agent nouns, being attached to verbs of any origin ( bearer; creeper; employer; harvester; teacher; theorizer ).

E.R.

²

abbreviation for

1. King Edward.

-er

³

1. a noun suffix occurring in loanwords from French in the Middle English period, most often names of occupations ( archer; butcher; butler; carpenter; grocer; mariner; officer ), but also other nouns ( corner; danger; primer ). Some historical instances of this suffix, as in banker or gardener, where the base is a recognizable modern English word, are now indistinguishable from denominal formations with -er1, as miller or potter.

E.R.

⁴

abbreviation for

1. Queen Elizabeth.

-er

⁵

1. a termination of nouns denoting action or process: dinner; rejoinder; remainder; trover .

E.R.

⁶

abbreviation for

1. East Riding (Yorkshire).
2. East River (New York City).
3. emergency room.

-er

⁷

1. a suffix regularly used in forming the comparative degree of adjectives: harder; smaller .

-er

⁸

1. a suffix regularly used in forming the comparative degree of adverbs: faster .

-er

⁹

1. a formal element appearing in verbs having frequentative meaning: flicker; flutter; shiver; shudder .

-er

¹⁰

1. a suffix that creates informal or jocular mutations of more neutral words, which are typically clipped to a single syllable if polysyllabic, before application of the suffix, and which sometimes undergo other phonetic alterations: bed-sitter; footer; fresher; rugger . Most words formed thus have been limited to English public-school and university slang; few, if any, have become current in North America, with the exception of soccer, which has also lost its earlier informal character.

er

¹¹

[ uh, er ]

interjection

1. (used to express or represent a pause, hesitation, uncertainty, etc.)

Er

¹²

Symbol, Chemistry.

1. erbium.

ER

¹³

abbreviation for

1. Baseball. earned run ( def ).
2. efficiency report.
3. emergency room ( def ).

-er

¹

suffix

1. forming the comparative degree of adjectives ( deeper, freer, sunnier, etc) and adverbs ( faster, slower, etc)

er

²

the internet domain name for

1. Eritrea

ER

³

abbreviation for

1. (in the US) Emergency Room (in hospitals)
2. Elizabeth Regina
3. Eduardus Rex

er

⁴

/ ə; ɜː /

interjection

1. a sound made when hesitating in speech

Er

⁵

the chemical symbol for

1. erbium

-er

⁶

suffix forming nouns

1. a person or thing that performs a specified action

   decanter

   reader

   lighter

2. a person engaged in a profession, occupation, etc

   bootlegger

   baker

   writer

3. a native or inhabitant of

   Londoner

   villager

   islander

4. a person or thing having a certain characteristic

   fiver

   newcomer

   double-decker

Word History and Origins

Origin of -er¹

Middle English -er(e), a coalescence of Old English -ere agentive suffix (cognate with Old High German -āri, Gothic -areis, from unattested Germanic -arjaz, from unattested Slavic -arĭ, from Latin -ārius ) and Old English -ware suffix forming nouns of ethnic or residential origin (e.g., Rōmware “Romans”), cognate with Old High German -āri, from unattested Germanic -warioz “people”; -ary

Origin of -er²

From New Latin Edwardus Rex

Origin of -er³

Middle English < Anglo-French -er, equivalent to Old French -er, -ier < Latin -ārius, -ārium. -ary, -eer, -ier ²

Origin of -er⁴

From New Latin Elizabeth Regina

Origin of -er⁵

< French, originally infinitive suffix -er, -re

Origin of -er⁶

Middle English -er ( e ), -re, Old English -ra, -re; cognate with German -er

Origin of -er⁷

Middle English -er ( e ), -re, Old English -or; cognate with Old High German -or, German -er

Origin of -er⁸

Middle English; Old English -r-; cognate with German - ( e ) r-

Origin of -er⁹

Probably modeled on nonagentive uses of -er ¹; said to have first become current in University College, Oxford, 1875–80

Word History and Origins

Origin of -er¹

Old English -rd, -re (adj), -or (adv)

Origin of -er²

Latin: Queen Elizabeth

Origin of -er³

Old English -ere; related to German -er, Latin -ārius

Related Words

• cry
• exclamation
• expletive
• insertion
• interpolation
• interposition
• shout