-eur

¹ American  

1. a suffix occurring in loanwords from French, usually agent nouns formed from verbs (entrepreneur; voyeur ), less commonly adjectives (agent provocateur ).

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Eur. ² American  

abbreviation

1. Europe.

2. European.

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eur- British  

combining form

1. a variant of euro-

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Usage

What does -eur mean? The form -eur is a suffix that marks an agent noun or, occasionally, an adjective in loanwords from French. Agent nouns are nouns that indicate a person who does an action. Broadly speaking, then, -eur means "doer." The suffix -eur is relatively common in both everyday and technical terms.The suffix -eur ultimately comes from the Latin -or or -ator, which was used to indicate agent nouns.An equivalent of -eur in words from English is the suffix -er, as in singer (someone who sings).What are variants of -eur?When agent nouns ending in -eur are used to refer to a feminine-gendered element, -eur becomes -euse, as in chanteuse (a female singer). Although -eur is a masculine-gendered ending for agent nouns, it is often (though not always) preferred over -euse as the default in English, regardless of the subject’s gender.Want to know more? Read our Words That Use -euse article.

Etymology

Origin of -eur

< French; Old French -o ( u ) r < Latin -ōr- -or ² and -eo ( u ) r < Latin -ātōr- -ator; -tor