beer

From Middle English ber, bere, from Old English bēor (“beer”) (Oxford OED notes: "rare, except in poetry"), from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą (“beer”) (putatively from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewsóm), meaning “brewer's yeast”.

However, also see the "beer" entry on EtymOnline (q.v.), which links a connection to monastic Vulgar Latin *biber (“a drink, beverage”), from Latin bibere (“to drink”). Samuel Johnson in his famous 18th-century A Dictionary of the English Language guessed it was from (unattested) Welsh *bîr; he distinguished it in his time from ale — the ancient usual word — by beer being older-aged and/or smaller.

Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bjoor (“beer”), West Frisian bier (“beer”), Dutch bier (“beer”), German Low German Beer (“beer”), German Bier (“beer”), dialectal Swedish bjor, bör (“beer”), Norwegian Nynorsk bjor (“beer”), Faroese bjór (“beer”), Icelandic bjór (“beer”).

• (non-rhotic)
  • (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪə/, [ˈbɪə]

    • Audio (UK):

      (file)

    • Audio (Australia):

      (file)

  • (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈbiə/, [ˈbiə]
  • (East Anglia, cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /ˈbɛː/, [ˈbɛː]
• (rhotic)
  • (General American, Standard Canadian) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪɚ/, [ˈbɪɚ] ~ [ˈbɪɹ̩]

    • Audio (US):

      (file)

  • (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈbi(ː)ɹ/, [ˈbi(ː)ɹ]
• (Indic)
  • IPA^(key): /bia̯(ɾ)/, /biː(ɾ)/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: beer
• Homophones: bier, bere, bare (cheer–chair merger), bear (cheer–chair merger)

beer (countable and uncountable, plural beers)

2. (uncountable) An alcoholic drink fermented from starch material, commonly barley malt; often with hops or some other substance (like gruit) to impart a bitter flavor.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:beer

   Beer is brewed all over the world.

   • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

     “ […] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
       Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […] ”

3. (uncountable) A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.
4. (uncountable) A solution produced by steeping plant materials in water or another fluid.
5. (countable) A glass, bottle, or can of any of the above beverages.

   I bought a few beers from the shop for the party.

   Can I buy you a beer?

   I'd like two beers and a glass of white wine.

6. (countable) A variety of the above beverages.

   Pilsner is one of the most commonly served beers in Europe.

   I haven't tried this beer before.

   I had two beers yesterday at the restaurant.

English terms starting with “beer”

beer (third-person singular simple present beers, present participle beering, simple past and past participle beered)

1. (informal, transitive) To give beer to (someone).
   • 1870, Sidney Daryl, His First Brief. A Comedietta in Clement Scott, Drawing-room Plays and Parlour Pantomimes, Robson and Sons, pages 303–304:

     No doubt he then can feed us, wine us, beer us, And cook us something that can warm and cheer us.

   • 2010, Steve Brezenhoff, The Absolute Value of -1, Carolrhoda Lab, page 121:

     “Beer me!” said Goody. “Also your weed is shit. Where’s the good stuff, dude?”

   • 2013, Janet E. Cameron, Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World, Hatchette Books Ireland, page 124:

     I heard Patty Marsh yelling, ‘Beer him, Eleanor!’

   • 2013, R. D. Power, Forbidden, page 39:

     “Beer me!” To his astonishment she obeyed his command, appearing a minute later with a glass of beer and a wry smile.

2. (informal, intransitive) To drink beer.
   • 2008, Charles Foran, Join the Revolution, Comrade: Journeys and Essays, page 83:

     In Japan, students on a Friday night announce “Let's beer!”

From Middle English beere, equivalent to be +‎ -er.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbi.ɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbiː.ə/

beer (plural beers)

1. (nonstandard) One who is or exists.
   • 1990, Budge Wilson, “Be-ers and Doers”, in The leaving, and other stories:

     That meant, among other things, that he was going to be a fast-moving doer. And even when he was three or four, it wasn't hard for me to know that this wasn't going to be easy. Because Albert was a beer. Born that way.

• be-er

• afterbear
• forebear

• “Sumerian beer” from Language Log, 2022-04-04

• Bree, Eber, Erbe, Reeb, bere, bree, eber, reeb

• IPA^(key): /bɪər/

• Audio:

  (file)

From Dutch beer, from Proto-Germanic *berô.

beer (plural bere, diminutive beertjie)

1. bear

From Dutch beer, from Proto-West Germanic *bair.

beer (plural bere)

1. boar (male swine)

• IPA^(key): /beːr/, [bɪːr]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: beer
• Rhymes: -eːr

From Middle Dutch bēre, from Old Dutch *bero, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô.

beer m (plural beren, diminutive beertje n)

1. a bear, any member of the family Ursidae

   De beer drinkt bier. ― The bear drinks beer.

2. (figurative) a person who is physically impressive and/or crude

   Wat een beer van een vent daar voorin, he? ― What a bear of a guy there in front, huh?

• Afrikaans: beer
• → Papiamentu: ber, beer

From Middle Dutch bêer, from Old Dutch *bēr, from Proto-West Germanic *bair.

beer m (plural beren, diminutive beertje n)

1. boar (male swine)

   De kinderboerderij heeft een aantal zeugen en maar één beer. ― The petting zoo has a number of sows and only one boar.

2. buttress; protective external construction, notably against ice or supporting the weight of the main building
3. a boar-shaped type of battering ram
4. a male badger

• Afrikaans: beer

From Middle Dutch bere, from Old Dutch [Term?], from a derivative of Proto-West Germanic *bermō (“yeast”), related to Old English beorma, Albanian burmë.

beer m (plural beren, diminutive beertje n)

1. (now dialectal) liquid, notably human manure (excrement gathered in a pit to fertilize)

   Wie doet er nu beer in zijn bier? Ik haat beer!

   Who in the world would put liquid manure in his beer? I hate manure!

Borrowed from German Bär. Cognate to etymology 1.

beer m (plural beren, no diminutive)

1. (university slang) debt

   Synonym: schuld

   Door haar gokverslaving zat ze met een enorme beer opgescheept.

   Due to her gambling addiction she was saddled with an enormous debt.

2. (university slang) creditor (one to whom one owes debt)

   Synonym: schuldeiser

   Henry zag niet zijn beren op de weg, maar wel bij hem op de stoep.

   Henry didn't see his creditors on the road, but he did see them on his doorstep.

• M. J. Koenen & J. Endepols, Verklarend Handwoordenboek der Nederlandse Taal (tevens Vreemde-woordentolk), Groningen, Wolters-Noordhoff, 1969 (26th edition) [Dutch dictionary in Dutch]

beer

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of beō

• IPA^(key): /beːʀ/
• Hyphenation: beer
• Rhymes: -eːʀ

From Middle Low German bêr, from Old Saxon bior, from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą.

• Bier, bier (less common variant)
• bair (Eisden)
• Béër (Eupen)

beer n

1. beer

From Middle Dutch bere, from Old Dutch bēro, from Proto-West Germanic *bair.

• Bier, bieër (some dialects, like Voeren)
• Béër (Eupen)

beer m

1. boar (male swine)

• zoog (“female swine”)

From Middle High German ber, from Old High German beri. Alternatively from Middle Dutch bere, from Old Dutch *beri. Both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *baʀi, from Proto-Germanic *bazją, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-.

• bier, bieër

beer f

1. berry

From Old Dutch *bēr, from Proto-West Germanic *bair.

bêer m

1. boar, male pig

• Dutch: beer
• West Flemish: beir

• “beer”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929), “bere (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page bere

beer

1. alternative form of ber

From Old Frisian *bera, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô (“bear”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”).

beer

1. (Föhr-Amrum) bear

• baer, baher, baier, baer, beier, beyer

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin badāre.

beer

1. (transitive) to open
2. (intransitive) to open
3. (chiefly) to pant; to breathe heavily
4. (figuratively) to desire; to lust for

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

• beee

• Middle French: beer
  • French: bayer
• Norman: béguer
• Picard: beyer
• Walloon: bawî

• Frédéric Godefroy (1880–1902), “beer”, in Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle […], Paris: F[riedrich] Vieweg; Émile Bouillon, →OCLC.

Cognate with Maay beer, Jiiddu biir.

béer f (plural beero m)

1. cultivated field

Unknown. Perhaps related to Shinasha afara (“liver”) and Sheko afaaro (“liver”).

bèer m (plural beerar m)

1. liver

• “beer”, in Qaamuuska Af-Soomaaliga, 2012