ear

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search
See also EAR, and -ear

Contents

English [edit]

A human ear.

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

From Middle English ere, ȝhere, from Old English ēare (“ear”), from the voiced Verner alternant of Proto-Germanic *ausô (“ear”) (compare Scots ear, West Frisian ear, Dutch oor, German Ohr, Swedish öra, Danish øre), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ous- (compare Old Irish áu, Latin auris, Lithuanian ausìs, Russian ухо (úxo), Albanian vesh, Ancient Greek οὖς (oûs), Old Armenian ունկն (unkn), Persian گوش (guš) ).

Noun [edit]

ear (plural ears)

  1. (countable) The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea.
  2. (countable) The external part of the organ of hearing, the auricle.
  3. (countable, slang) A police informant.
    • 1976, Stirling Silliphant, Dean Riesner, Gail Morgan Hickman, The Enforcer.
      No I'm not kidding, and if you don't give it to me I'll let it out that you’re an ear.
Alternative forms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Terms derived from ear (noun)
Translations [edit]
organ of hearing
external part of the organ of hearing — see auricle
slang: police informant
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

See also [edit]

Etymology 2 [edit]

Middle English er, from Old English ēar, from Proto-Germanic *ahaz (compare West Frisian ier, Dutch aar, German Ähre), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ék- 'sharp' (compare Latin acus 'needle; husk', Tocharian B āk 'ear, awn', Old Church Slavonic ostĭ 'wheat spike, sharp point'). More at edge.

Noun [edit]

ear (plural ears)

  1. (countable) The fruiting body of a grain plant.
    He is in the fields, harvesting ears of corn.
Synonyms [edit]
Translations [edit]
fruiting body of a grain plant

Verb [edit]

ear (third-person singular simple present ears, present participle earing, simple past and past participle eared)

  1. (intransitive) To put forth ears in growing; to form ears, as grain does.
    This corn ears well.

Etymology 3 [edit]

Old English erian

Verb [edit]

ear (third-person singular simple present ears, present participle earing, simple past and past participle eared)

  1. (archaic) To plough.
    • 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II
      That power I have, discharge; and let them go
      To ear the land that hath some hope to grow,
      For I have none.
Translations [edit]
plough — see plough
archaic: to plough

Anagrams [edit]

Old English [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

Akin to Old Norse aur

Noun [edit]

ēar m

  1. sea
  2. earth

Etymology 2 [edit]

Proto-Germanic *ahaz, whence also Old High German ahir (German Ähre), Old Saxon ahar (Dutch aar), Old Norse ax. From a Proto-Indo-European root *ak ('pointed'); compare Latin acus "needle"

Noun [edit]

ēar n

  1. ear (of corn)

Scottish Gaelic [edit]

Noun [edit]

ear f

  1. east

Antonyms [edit]

Derived terms [edit]

West Frisian [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Old Frisian āre, from the voiced Verner alternant of Proto-Germanic *ausô, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ows-. Compare English ear, Dutch oor, German Ohr, Danish øre.

Noun [edit]

ear n (plural earen, diminutive earje, diminutive plural earjes)

  1. ear
Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=ear&oldid=20583056"