beer

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See also: Beer, béer, bëër, bëer, and be-er

English[edit]

WOTD – 28 March 2016
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A glass of beer

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English bere, from Old English bēor (“beer”), from Proto-Germanic *beuzą (“beer”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰews-, *bews- (“dross, sediment, brewer's yeast”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bjoor (“beer”), West Frisian bier (“beer”), German Low German Beer (“beer”), Dutch bier (“beer”), German Bier (“beer”), Icelandic bjór (“beer”), Swedish buska (“freshly brewed beer, new beer”), bira (“beer”), Middle Dutch & Middle Low German būsen (“to feast, booze, drink heavily”), Middle High German būs (“a swelling”). Non-Germanic cognates include probably Albanian mbush (“to fill, stuff”).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

beer (countable and uncountable, plural beers)

  1. (uncountable) An alcoholic drink fermented from starch material, commonly barley malt, often with hops or some other substance to impart a bitter flavor.
    Beer is brewed all over the world.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest‎[1]:
      “ […] 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. […] ”
  2. (uncountable) A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.
  3. (uncountable) A solution produced by steeping plant materials in water or another fluid.
  4. (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.
  5. (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.
Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from beer (noun)

Pages starting with "beer".

Descendants[edit]
Translations[edit]
See also: Thesaurus:beer/translations
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 Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb[edit]

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.

Etymology 2[edit]

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

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

beer (plural beers)

  1. 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.
Derived terms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Afrikaans[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Dutch beer.

Noun[edit]

beer (plural bere, diminutive beertjie)

  1. bear

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

beer m (plural beren, diminutive beertje n)

  1. bear (large predatory mammal of the family Ursidae)
  2. (figuratively) 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?
  3. (college slang) debt, credit
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Dutch: a 'beer' or 'steunbeer'

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

Noun[edit]

beer m (plural beren, diminutive beertje n)

  1. boar (male swine).
  2. A protective external construction, notably against ice or supporting the weight of the main building.
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

EB1911 - Volume 01 - Page 001 - 1.svg This entry lacks etymological information. If you are familiar with the origin of this term, please add it to the page per etymology instructions. You can also discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.

Noun[edit]

beer m (plural beren, diminutive beertje n)

  1. liquid manure (excrement gathered in a pit to fertilize)
Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

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

Latin[edit]

Verb[edit]

beer

  1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of beō

Limburgish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Dutch bier, from Old Dutch bier, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą.

Noun[edit]

beer n

  1. beer
  2. any alcoholic drink

Inflection[edit]

Inflection
Root singular Root plural Diminutive singular Diminutive plural
Nominative beer bere beerke beerkes
Genitive beers bere beerkes beerkes
Locative baer baere baerke baerkes
Dative* baerem baerer baeremske baeremskes
Accusative* beer berer beerke beerkes
  • The dative and accusative are obsolete nowadays, the nominative is used instead.

Middle Dutch[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old Dutch *bēr, from Proto-Germanic *bairaz.

Noun[edit]

bêer m

  1. boar, male pig

Inflection[edit]

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • “beer”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
  • “bere (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

Old French[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Vulgar Latin *badō (“I am open”).

Verb[edit]

beer

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

Conjugation[edit]

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.

    Conjugation of beer (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
simple compound
infinitive beer avoir beé
gerund en beant Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle beant
past participle beé
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative jo tu il nos vos il
simple
tenses 		present be bees bee beons beez beent
imperfect beoie, beeie, beoe, beeve beoies, beeies, beoes, beeves beoit, beeit, beot, beeve beïiens, beïens beïiez, beïez beoient, beeient, beoent, beevent
preterite beai beas bea beames beastes beerent
future beerai beeras beera beerons beeroiz, beereiz, beerez beeront
conditional beeroie, beereie beeroies, beereies beeroit, beereit beeriiens, beeriens beeriiez, beeriez beeroient, beereient
compound
tenses 		present perfect Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
past anterior Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle
future perfect Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
conditional perfect Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive que jo que tu qu’il que nos que vos qu’il
simple
tenses 		present be bez bet beons beez beent
imperfect beasse beasses beast beïssons, beïssiens beïssoiz, beïssez, beïssiez beassent
compound
tenses 		past Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative – tu – nos vos –
— bee — beons beez —

Descendants[edit]

References[edit]

  • Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle (1881) (beer)
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