-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 forming nouns

1. a person or thing that performs a specified action

   lighter

   decanter

   reader

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

   baker

   writer

   bootlegger

3. a native or inhabitant of

   villager

   Londoner

   islander

4. a person or thing having a certain characteristic

   double-decker

   fiver

   newcomer

er

²

the internet domain name for

1. Eritrea

-er

³

suffix

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

Er

⁴

the chemical symbol for

1. erbium

er

⁵

/ ɜː; ə /

interjection

1. a sound made when hesitating in speech

ER

⁶

abbreviation for

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

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

Origin of -er²

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

Origin of -er³

Latin: Queen Elizabeth

Example Sentences

I was taken to the hospital by ambulance and sat in the ER waiting room for what felt like days.

From The Daily Beast

The shift in language and content is click-bait for the enterprising eBay-er.

From The Daily Beast

The EU has said, since Haaretz broke the story, er, well, we have no such plans.

From The Daily Beast

Er, um, because the people dying of Ebola in West Africa are black?

From The Daily Beast

Fame came with ER in the mid-1990s and Clooney's role as heart-throb doctor Doug Ross.

From The Daily Beast

He can't talk much, though; 'tain't good fur him; his lungs is out er kilter.

From Project Gutenberg

Thar couldn't nothin' kill her, short er wild beasts, ef she hed ther baby 'n her arms!

From Project Gutenberg

The subject is made more embarrassing because of its—er, rather personal nature.

From Project Gutenberg

It is true that I was impressed with him in a way, because the man was rather—er, inspiring, and I entertained hopes.

From Project Gutenberg

The place he put it in was—er—a little below golf and a little above classical concerts.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

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