rear

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English [edit]

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Etymology 1 [edit]

From Middle English reren, from Old English rǣran (“to cause to rise, rear, raise, build, create, lift up, move from a lower to a higher position, elevate, promote, exalt, set up, establish, begin, commit, do, offer, give rise to, excite, rouse, arouse, stir up”), from Proto-Germanic *raizijaną, *raisijaną (“to cause to rise, raise”), from Proto-Indo-European *rei- (“to lift oneself, rise”). Cognate with Scots rere (“to construct, build, rear”), Icelandic reisa (“to raise”), Gothic  (raisjan, “to cause to rise, lift up, establish”), German reisen (“to travel”, literally “to rear up and depart”). More at rise.

Alternative forms [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Standard
Variant
  • (Irish) IPA: /rer/
  • Rhymes -ɛə(r)
  • Compare rere, pronounced IPA: /rir/, a spelling variant of Etymology 1; which is still current in Ireland, and reflects the (potential) difference of pronunciation of Etymology 2.

Verb [edit]

rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

  1. (transitive) To raise physically; to lift up; to cause to rise, to elevate.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Milton
      In adoration at his feet I fell Submiss; he reared me.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Lord Lytton
      Mine [shall be] the first hand to rear her banner.
  2. (transitive) To construct by building; to set up
    to rear defenses or houses
    to rear one government on the ruins of another.
  3. (transitive) To raise spiritually; to lift up; to elevate morally.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Isaac Barrow
      It reareth our hearts from vain thoughts.
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To lift and take up.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Edmund Spenser
      And having her from Trompart lightly reared, Upon his set the lovely load.
  5. (transitive) To bring up to maturity, as offspring; to educate; to instruct; to foster.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Thomas Southerne
      He wants a father to protect his youth, and rear him up to virtue.
  6. (transitive) To breed and raise; as, to rear cattle (cattle-rearing).
  7. (transitive, obsolete) To rouse; to strip up.
  8. (intransitive) To rise up on the hind legs, as a bolting horse.
Usage notes [edit]

See note under raise.

Synonyms [edit]
  • (rise up on the hind legs): prance
The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. Use the template {{sense|"gloss"}}, substituting a short version of the definition for "gloss".
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
to lift, raise etc. physically
to lift spiritually
to set up, construct
to bring up to maturity
to breed and raise
to rise on the hind legs

Etymology 2 [edit]

From Middle English reren, from Old English hrēran (“to move, shake, agitate”), from Proto-Germanic *hrōzijaną (“to stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱera-, *ḱrā- (“to mix, stir, cook”). Cognate with Dutch roeren (“to stir, shake, whip”), German rühren (“to stir, beat, move”), Swedish röra (“to touch, move, stir”), Icelandic hræra (“to stir”).

Alternative forms [edit]

Verb [edit]

rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

  1. (transitive) To move; stir.
  2. (transitive, of geese) To carve.
    Rere that goose!
Related terms [edit]

Etymology 3 [edit]

From Middle English rere, from Old English hrēr, hrēre (“not thoroughly cooked, underdone, lightly boiled”), from hrēran (“to move, shake, agitate”), from Proto-Germanic *hrōzijaną (“to stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱera-, *ḱrā- (“to mix, stir, cook”). Related to Old English hrōr (“stirring, busy, active, strong, brave”), Dutch roeren (“to stir, shake, whip”), German rühren (“to stir, beat, move”), Swedish röra (“to touch, move, stir”), Icelandic hræra (“to stir”).

Alternative forms [edit]

Adjective [edit]

rear (comparative rearer or more rear, superlative rearest or most rear)

  1. (now chiefly dialectal) (of eggs) Underdone; nearly raw.
  2. (chiefly US) (of meats) Rare.
Derived terms [edit]

Etymology 4 [edit]

Anglo-Norman rere, ultimately from Latin retro. Compare arrear.

Pronunciation [edit]

Adjective [edit]

rear (not comparable)

  1. Being behind, or in the hindmost part; hindmost; as, the rear rank of a company.
Antonyms [edit]
Translations [edit]
being behind, or in the hindmost part

Adverb [edit]

rear (comparative more rear, superlative most rear)

  1. (UK, dialect) early; soon
    • (Can we date this quote?) John Gay.
      Then why does Cuddy leave his cot so rear!

Noun [edit]

rear (plural rears)

  1. The back or hindmost part; that which is behind, or last on order; - opposed to front.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Milton
      Nipped with the lagging rear of winter's frost.
  2. (military) Specifically, the part of an army or fleet which comes last, or is stationed behind the rest.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Milton
      When the fierce foe hung on our broken rear.
  3. (anatomy) The buttocks, a creature's bottom
Synonyms [edit]
Translations [edit]
the back or hindmost part
the part of an army or fleet which comes last
the posterior, butt(ocks)- only terms with directional notion
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

Verb [edit]

rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

  1. (transitive, vulgar, UK) To sodomize (perform anal sex)
Derived terms [edit]
terms derived from rear (noun)

Anagrams [edit]

Latin [edit]

Verb [edit]

rear

  1. first-person singular present active subjunctive of reor

Swedish [edit]

Verb [edit]

rear

  1. present tense of rea.
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