-er
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "er"
Languages (34)
English
Afrikaans • Bavarian • Breton • Catalan • Chuukese • Danish • Dutch • French • Gagauz • German • Hungarian • Latin • Luxembourgish • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Middle French • Norman • Northern Kurdish • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old English • Old French • Old Frisian • Old Swedish • Polish • Portuguese • Saterland Frisian • Scots • Spanish • Swedish • Turkish • Walloon • Welsh
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Afrikaans • Bavarian • Breton • Catalan • Chuukese • Danish • Dutch • French • Gagauz • German • Hungarian • Latin • Luxembourgish • Middle Dutch • Middle English • Middle French • Norman • Northern Kurdish • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Old English • Old French • Old Frisian • Old Swedish • Polish • Portuguese • Saterland Frisian • Scots • Spanish • Swedish • Turkish • Walloon • Welsh
Page categories
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ə/
- (General American) enPR: ər, IPA(key): /ɚ/
Audio (US): (file) - Homophones: -or; -a (non-rhotic)
Etymology 1
Etymology tree
Inherited from Middle English -ere, -er, from Old English -ere, from Proto-West Germanic *-ārī, from Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz, usually thought to have been borrowed from Latin -ārius. However, Gąsiorowski suggests that *-ārijaz is a native formation; he derives it from earlier *-azrijaz, which he etymologises as a zero-grade form of *-sōr suffixed with *-ih₂, creating a suffix *-sr-ih₂ for forming feminine agent nouns, which was then masculinised by attaching *-ós.
Cognates
Compare the synonymous but unrelated Old French -or, -eor (Anglo-Norman variant -our), from Latin -(ā)tor, from Proto-Indo-European *-tōr.
Alternative forms
- -'er (following an abbreviation, or sometimes following a number)
Suffix
-er
- (added to verbs) A person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun.
- (added to verbs, informal) A person or thing to which the root verb is done or can be done satisfactorily.
- (added to nouns, chiefly denoting occupations) A person whose occupation is the root noun; (more broadly, occasionally with adjectives) a person characterized by the root.
- (added to numbers, measurements or nouns denoting quantified sets) A person or thing to which a certain number or measurement applies.
- six + -er → sixer
- six foot + -er → six-footer
- three-wheel + -er → three-wheeler
- first grade + -er → first grader
- (slang, chiefly entertainment, with few limitations) Used to form nouns shorter than more formal synonyms.
- (added to nouns) A person who is associated with, or supports a particular theory, doctrine, or political movement.
- (added to nouns or occasionally adjectives, generally) A thing that is related in some way to the root, such as by location or purpose.
- bacon + -er → baconer (“pig raised for bacon”)
- chocolate chip + -er → chocolate chipper (“cookie containing chocolate chips”)
- sternwheel + -er → sternwheeler (“vessel driven by a sternwheel”)
- (slang, added in slang speech to verbs or adjectives, generally) Indicates a correspondence or coincidence between the action or condition indicated by the root and the noun being described.
Usage notes
- The suffix may be used to form an agent noun of many verbs. In compound or phrasal verbs, the suffix usually follows the verb component (as in passerby and runner-up) but is sometimes added at the end, irrespective of the position of the verb component (do-gooder) or is added to both components, often with humorous effect (washer-upper). Rarely, it may even appear three times, as in picker-upperer.
- The occupational sense is often applied generally to members of a group, as in crewer (“a member of a crew”) and Z-lister (“one on the Z-list”); fans and hobbyists, as in K-popper (“a fan of K-pop”), and those who use a particular tool or instrument, as in JavaScripter (“a programmer who uses JavaScript”).
- The entertainment slang sense is sometimes referred to as the Variety -er.
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below are a guide only. For more precise translations, see specific words ending with this suffix.
(used to form agent nouns) person or thing that does...
|
person whose occupation is...
|
(with numbers, measurements or quantified sets) ranked by or having...
See also
Etymology 2
From Middle English -ere, from Old English -ware (suffix denoting residency or meaning "inhabitant of"), from Proto-West Germanic *-wari, from Proto-Germanic *warjaz (“defender, inhabitant”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover, protect, save, defend”).
Suffix
-er
- (added to a proper noun) Suffix denoting a resident or inhabitant of (the place denoted by the proper noun); used to form a demonym.
- New York + -er → New Yorker
- London + -er → Londoner
- Dublin + -er → Dubliner
- New England + -er → New Englander
- Suffix denoting residency in or around a place, district, area, or region.
- island + -er → islander
- highland + -er → highlander
- eastend + -er → eastender
Derived terms
Translations
(used form a demonym) resident or inhabitant of...
|
Etymology 3
From Middle English -re, -er, from Old English -ru (plural suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-izō (plural suffix). Cognate with Dutch -er (plural ending), German -er (plural ending). See also -ren.
Suffix
-er
- (obsolete, no longer productive) Suffix used to form the plural of a small number of English nouns.
Derived terms
Etymology 4
From Middle English -er, representing various noun-suffixes in Old French and Anglo-Norman, variously -er, -ier and -ieur, from Latin -aris, -arius, -atorium. As a productive suffix, now merged with the occupational sense of Etymology 1.
Suffix
-er
See also
Etymology 5
From Middle English -ere, from Old English -ra, from Proto-West Germanic *iʀō, *-ōʀō, from Proto-Germanic *-izô or Proto-Germanic *-ōzô (a derivative of Etymology 6, below); related to superlative -est.
Suffix
-er
- (added to certain adjectives and adverbs, now especially short ones) More; used to form the comparative.
Usage notes
- (more; used to form the comparative): Most adjectives whose comparatives are formed using the suffix -er also form their superlatives using the suffix -est.
- Final -y preceded by a consonant becomes -i- when the suffix -er or -est is added.
- easy → easier → easiest; gray → grayer → grayest
- When the stress is on the final (or only) syllable of the adjective, and this syllable ends in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant is doubled when the suffix is added.
- dim → dimmer → dimmest
- The suffixes -er and -est may be used to form the comparative and superlative of most adjectives and adverbs that have one syllable and some that have two or more syllables.
- hot → hotter → hottest; fast → faster → fastest; funny → funnier → funniest; sugary → sugarier → sugariest
- Some adjectives and adverbs form their comparatives and superlatives irregularly:
- good → better → best; far → farther → farthest, or far → further → furthest, depending on the meaning
- The comparatives and superlatives of other adverbs and adjectives that have two or more syllables, and adjectives that are participles are formed with more and most.
- rigid → more rigid → most rigid; enormous → more enormous → most enormous; burnt → more burnt → most burnt; freezing → more freezing → most freezing
- If in doubt, use more to form the comparative and most to form the superlative; for example, thirsty may become thirstier and thirstiest, but more thirsty and most thirsty are also acceptable.
- Final -y preceded by a consonant becomes -i- when the suffix -er or -est is added.
- Words ending with -ng are pronounced /ŋ/ by most dialects instead of /ŋɡ/. However, when -er or -est is added to an adjective, the /ɡ/ appears in most dialects (but not in wrong)
- long (/lɒŋ/) → longer (/ˈlɒŋ.ɡə(ɹ)/); young (/jʌŋ/) → youngest (/ˈjʌŋ.ɡɪst/)
Translations
used to form the comparative of adjectives
|
Etymology 6
From Middle English -er, from Old English -or, from Proto-West Germanic *-ōʀ, Proto-Germanic *-ōz.
Suffix
-er
Translations
used to form the comparative of adverbs
|
Etymology 7
From Middle English -eren, -ren, -rien, from Old English -erian, -rian, from Proto-West Germanic *-rōn, *-iʀōn, from Proto-Germanic *-rōną or *-izōną. Cognate with West Frisian -erje, Dutch -eren, German -eren, -ern, Danish -re, Swedish -ra.
Suffix
-er
- (added to a verb or imitative sound) Frequently; used to form frequentative verbs.
Synonyms
- (used to form frequentative): -le
Translations
used to form frequentatives
|
See also
Frequentative on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Etymology 8
From Middle English -er, from Anglo-Norman -er, Old French -er, the infinitive verbal ending.
Suffix
-er
Derived terms
Etymology 9
From Middle English -er, -ere (diminutive suffix). Compare -el.
Suffix
-er
Etymology 10
Attested in the UK since the 19th century. Originally Rugby School slang. Later adopted by Oxford University and then wider British society.
Suffix
-er
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Etymology 11
From Middle English -er, from Old English -er, -or, from Proto-Germanic *-raz. Compare -le.
Suffix
-er
- (now chiefly dialectal) A suffix creating adjectives from verbs, indicating aptitude, proneness, or tendency toward a specified action:
Synonyms
Etymology 12
Suffix
-er
- (Chinese literature) Junior, child, younger person. (Attached to a name, usually one syllable of the given name.)
- Li’er said hello to his father.
- 2002 [1934], Xiao Hong, “The Field of Life and Death”, in Howard Goldblatt, transl., The Field of Life and Death & Tales of Hulan River, →ISBN, page 32:
- The fish was laid out on the table, but Ping’er had not come back, nor had his father.
- 2014 [1959], Zhong Lihe, “The Little Ridge”, in T. M. McClellan, transl., From the Old Country: Stories and Sketches of China and Taiwan, →ISBN, page 202:
- Ying’er was not yet three years old. Li’er had always been the one to play with her or to carry her places on his back.
Usage notes
- Especially in Mandarin Chinese literature that has been translated into English, the suffix is often left untranslated in unaccented pinyin. This practice is similar to the use of -kun / -chan / -san or sensei in English-language Japanese fiction.
- Often, an apostrophe (used to mark syllable boundaries in pinyin) is inserted before the hyphen (as in Li'er), though it can also be omitted (Yinger).
Coordinate terms
See also
References
- “-er”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “-er”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams
Afrikaans
Etymology
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Suffix
-er
Bavarian
Etymology
From Middle High German -er, from Old High German -ari, from Proto-West Germanic *-ārī. Cognates include German -er and Luxembourgish -er.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-er
- Used to form agent nouns from verbs; -er
Derived terms
Breton
Pronunciation
Suffix
-er
- person or thing that (does the action indicated by the root); used to form an agent noun.
Derived terms
Catalan
Etymology
Inherited from Latin -ārius. Compare the borrowed doublet -ari.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-er m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ers)
- forms nouns meaning the location or object where something is usually found
- forms nouns meaning a plant which is cultivated to produce something
- forms nouns meaning the purpose of something or an object used for that purpose
- tovallola (“towel”) + -er → tovalloler (“towel rail”)
Usage notes
- The equivalent suffix -era can be used to form feminine nouns with these meanings, but usually only the masculine or feminine form will be found in Catalan.
Suffix
-er (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -era, masculine plural -ers, feminine plural -eres)
- forms nouns and adjectives referring to an inhabitant of somewhere
- forms nouns and adjectives referring to engaging in a profession
- forms nouns and adjectives referring to being prone to some activity or characteristic
- forms relational adjectives
- llet (“milk”) + -er → lleter (“milk [relational adjective], dairy”)
- pel·lícula (“film”) + -er → pel·liculer (“film [relational adjective], filmic, cinematic”)
Usage notes
- Because these senses are used to form adjectives of two forms or nouns referring to animate objects, both the masculine and feminine forms will be found in Catalan, with the lemma entry found at the masculine form.
See also
Derived terms
References
- “-er”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
- “-er” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
Chuukese
Pronunciation
Suffix
-er
Related terms
| small objects, concepts | large objects, living things | suffix | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| singular | first person | ai | nei | -ei |
| second person | omw, om | noum | -om | |
| third person | an | noun | -an | |
| plural | first person | äm (exclusive) ach (inclusive) | nöu̇m (exclusive) nöüch (inclusive) | -em (exclusive) -ach (inclusive) |
| second person | ämi, ami | noumi | -emi | |
| third person | ar | nour | -er |
Danish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Suffix
-er
- Forms agent nouns from verbs, with the sense "someone or something that verbs".
- Forms plural forms of many nouns.
- Forms the present tense of many verbs.
- Forms demonyms.
- Forms informal action nouns from verbs.
- (especially definite) Forms informal abbreviations of nouns, with elision.
- Forms a piece of currency from numbers.
- Forms a die throw result from numbers.
- Du skal slå mindst en treer for at komme videre.
- You must throw at least a three to move on.
Usage notes
Senses 1 and 3 often lead to heteronymic pairs. For example, from løbe (“run”) [ˈløːb̥ə] comes løber (“runs”) [ˈløːˀb̥ɐ] (verb form) and løber (“runner”) [ˈløːb̥ɐ] (noun), distinguished by stød.
Derived terms
References
- “-er” in Den Danske Ordbog
Dutch
French
Gagauz
German
Hungarian
Latin
Luxembourgish
Middle Dutch
Middle English
Middle French
Norman
Northern Kurdish
Norwegian Bokmål
Norwegian Nynorsk
Old English
Old French
Old Frisian
Old Swedish
Polish
Portuguese
Saterland Frisian
Scots
Spanish
Swedish
Turkish
Walloon
Welsh
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