peer

From Middle English peren, pyren, piren (“to peer, gaze”), perhaps from Old English *pȳran (“to look, peer”), from Proto-West Germanic *pūrijan (“to look”), related to Saterland Frisian pierje (“to look”), Dutch Low Saxon piren (“to look”), West Flemish pieren (“to look with narrowed eyes, squint at”), Dutch pieren (“to look closely at, examine”), Middle English pouren (“to gaze, look closely”), English pore (“to study meticulously”). Compare also West Frisian pluere (“to peer”), Dutch pluren (“to gaze squintingly”), German Low German plieren (“to blink”), Danish plire (“to peer”), Swedish plira, blira (“to peer”), and thence ultimately related to the root of English blear.

The sense meaning "to be visible" is perhaps from a shortening of appear.^[1][2][3]

• pire, pyre (obsolete or dialectal)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɪə/
• (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): /pɪː/, /pɪjə/
• (General American) enPR: pîr, IPA^(key): /pɪɹ/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /niə̯/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /piɾ/
• (East Anglia, cheer–chair merger) IPA^(key): /pɛː/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
• Homophones: pier; pair, pare, pear (all cheer–chair merger)

peer (third-person singular simple present peers, present participle peering, simple past and past participle peered)

1. (intransitive) To look with difficulty, or as if searching for something.
   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     […] I should be still / Plucking the grass, to know where sits the wind, / Peering in maps for ports, and piers, and roads;

   • 1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in Lyrical Ballads, London: J. & A. Arch, Part III, p. 17,^[1]

     And strait the Sun was fleck’d with bars

     (Heaven’s mother send us grace)

     As if thro’ a dungeon grate he peer’d

     With broad and burning face.

   • 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 10:

     He walked slowly past the gate and peered through a narrow gap in the cedar hedge. The girl was moving along a sanded walk, toward a gray, unpainted house, with a steep roof, broken by dormer windows.

   • 1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as chapter VI, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, June 1914, →OCLC, page 65:

     He would peek into the curtained windows, or, climbing upon the roof, peer down the black depths of the chimney in vain endeavor to solve the unknown wonders that lay within those strong walls.

   • 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 164:

     Long before you see the lean, handsome heads peering mildly over the half-doors of the loose boxes, you know that East Ilsley's business is training racehorses.

2. (intransitive, obsolete) To come in sight; to appear.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds, / So honour peereth in the meanest habit.

   • 1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, Act IIII, signatures I, verso – I2, recto:

     I, I, let you alone, cunning Artificer! / See, hovv his gorget peeres aboue his govvne; / To tell the people, in vvhat danger he vvas.

peer (plural peers)

1. A look; a glance.
   • 1970, William Crookes, T. A. Malone, George Shadbolt, The British journal of photography, volume 117, page 58:

     Blessed are those organisers who provide one-and-all with a name tag, for then the participants will chat together. A quick peer at your neighbour's lapel is much the simplest way to become introduced […]

From Middle English per, pere, from Anglo-Norman peir, Old French per, from Latin pār. Doublet of pair and par.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɪə̯/
• (General American) enPR: pîr, IPA^(key): /pɪɹ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
• Homophone: pier

peer (plural peers)

1. Somebody who is, or something that is, at a level or of a value equal (to that of something else).

   Synonym: compeer

   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Cock and the Fox: Or, The Tale of the Nun’s Priest, from Chaucer”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     In song he never had his peer.

   • 1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC:

     Shall they draw off to their privileged quarters, and consort only with their peers?

3. Someone who is approximately the same age (as someone else).
5. A noble with a title, i.e., a peerage, and in times past, with certain rights and privileges not enjoyed by commoners.

   a peer of the realm

   • 1646 (indicated as 1645), John Milton, “Comus”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], →OCLC:

     a noble peer of mickle trust and power

6. A comrade; a companion; an associate.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 37:

     He all his Peeres in beautie did surpas,

peer (third-person singular simple present peers, present participle peering, simple past and past participle peered)

1. To make equal in rank.
   • 1670, Peter Heylyn, Aerius Redivivus:

     Being now Peered with the Lord Chancellor, and the Earl of Essex.

2. (Internet) To carry communications traffic terminating on one's own network on an equivalency basis to and from another network, usually without charge or payment. Contrast with transit where one pays another network provider to carry one's traffic.

pee +‎ -er

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /piː.ə/
• (General American) enPR: pîr, IPA^(key): /pi.ɚ/

peer (plural peers)

1. (informal) Someone who pees, someone who urinates.
   • 1999 August 22, “Re: Swimming after eating”, in alt.folklore.urban‎^[2] (Usenet):

     As was the caveat about peeing in a pool. Of course, peeing in a pool wasn't dangerous to the person ... If you peed in a pool, and you were carrying the polio virus, presumably *other* people were put at risk, not the peer (pee-er?).

   • 2000 August 29, “Re: 32 month old urinating in his room! HELP!”, in alt.parenting.solutions‎^[3] (Usenet):

     SOunds^[sic] like you've already broken him quite well, if he's peeing when disciplined. Pretty sad. He's not a dog, not that treating a dog like this is any better either. You've turned your child into a submissive peer.

   • 2003 October 11, “Re: do female's "mark" their territory?”, in rec.pets.dogs.behavior‎^[4] (Usenet):

     Submissive peeing, on the other hand, IS related to anxiety. But submissive peeing is not marking. A submissive peer is generally a very submissive dog.

• père, Pree, pree, Reep, Pere, pere

From Dutch peer, from Middle Dutch pēre, from Vulgar Latin *pira, from Latin pirum.

• IPA^(key): /pɪə̯r/

• Audio:

  (file)

peer (plural pere)

1. pear

From Middle Dutch pēre, from Vulgar Latin *pira, from Latin pirum.

• IPA^(key): /peːr/

• Audio; [pɪːr]:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: peer
• Rhymes: -eːr

peer f (plural peren, diminutive peertje n)

1. a pear, a fruit of the pear tree

   De supermarkt verkoopt heerlijke peren van lokale boomgaarden.

   The supermarket sells delicious pears from local orchards.

   Ik heb een sappige rijpe peer voor mijn lunch.

   I have a juicy ripe pear for my lunch.

2. a light bulb

   Het oude peertje in de lamp is kapot, we moeten het vervangen.

   The old light bulb in the lamp is broken, we need to replace it.

   Ze draaide het peertje in de fitting en de kamer was weer verlicht.

   She screwed in the light bulb and the room was illuminated again.

• Afrikaans: peer
• Jersey Dutch: pêr
• → Aukan: peli
• → Indonesian: pir
• → Saramaccan: péíli (from the diminutive form)

peer m (plural peren, diminutive peertje n)

1. a pear tree, Pyrus communis

   De tuin heeft een prachtige peer staan die elk jaar veel fruit produceert.

   The garden has a beautiful pear tree that yields a lot of fruit every year.

   Hij plantte een jong peertje in zijn achtertuin.

   He planted a young pear tree in his backyard.

   De oude peer in de boomgaard gaf heerlijke vruchten.

   The old pear tree in the orchard produced delicious fruits.

• reep

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeːr/, [ˈpeːr]

From Proto-Finnic *peeru.

peer (genitive peeru, partitive peeru)

1. (colloquial) fart

   Synonym: puuks

Declension of peer (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		peer	peerud
accusative	nom.
	gen.	peeru
genitive			peerude
partitive		peeru	peere peerusid
illative		peeru peerusse	peerudesse peeresse
inessive		peerus	peerudes peeres
elative		peerust	peerudest peerest
allative		peerule	peerudele peerele
adessive		peerul	peerudel peerel
ablative		peerult	peerudelt peerelt
translative		peeruks	peerudeks peereks
terminative		peeruni	peerudeni
essive		peeruna	peerudena
abessive		peeruta	peerudeta
comitative		peeruga	peerudega

From French pair.

peer (genitive peeri, partitive peeri)

1. (historical) peer (member of high nobility with certain political privileges)
2. (politics) peer (member of the UK House of Lords)

   Synonym: lord

Declension of peer (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		peer	peerid
accusative	nom.
	gen.	peeri
genitive			peeride
partitive		peeri	peere peerisid
illative		peeri peerisse	peeridesse peeresse
inessive		peeris	peerides peeres
elative		peerist	peeridest peerest
allative		peerile	peeridele peerele
adessive		peeril	peeridel peerel
ablative		peerilt	peeridelt peerelt
translative		peeriks	peerideks peereks
terminative		peerini	peerideni
essive		peerina	peeridena
abessive		peerita	peerideta
comitative		peeriga	peeridega

• peer in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)
• “peer”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
• “peer”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN

peer

1. alternative form of per (“peer”)

peer

1. alternative form of per (“equal”)

• IPA^(key): /pir/

From Middle English pere (“pear”), from Old English pere, peru, from Vulgar Latin *pira, from Latin pirum.

peer (plural peers)

1. pear (fruit)

• peerie

From Middle English piren (“to peer”).

peer (third-person singular simple present peers, present participle peerin, simple past and past participle peert)

1. To peer.

Inherited from Latin pēdere, pēdō, from Proto-Italic *pezdō from Proto-Indo-European *pesd-.

• IPA^(key): /peˈeɾ/ [peˈeɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: pe‧er

peer (first-person singular present peo, first-person singular preterite peí, past participle peído)

1. (sometimes reflexive, possibly vulgar, colloquial) to break wind, to fart

   Me he peído.

   I've farted.

   Todos peen.

   Everyone farts.

   Péete y nos reiremos de ello.

   Fart and we'll laugh about it.

• “peer”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025