dear
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /dɪə/
ipa: /dɪɹ/
ipa: /diə/
ipa: /diːɹ/
note: East Anglia, cheer–chair merger
ipa: /dɛː/
homophone: deer
homophone: Deere
homophone: dare (cheer–chair merger)
rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
Forms: form: dearer
form: more dear
form: dearest
form: most dear
Etymology: From Middle English dere, from Old English dīere (“of great value or excellence, expensive, beloved”), from Proto-West Germanic *diurī, from Proto-Germanic *diurijaz (“dear, precious, expensive”). Cognate with Scots dere, deir (“of great value or worth, highly valued, precious, beloved”), Saterland Frisian djuur (“precious, dear, costly, expensive”), Dutch duur (“costly, precious”), German teuer (“costly, precious”), German Low German düür, Danish dyr (“expensive”), Swedish dyr (“expensive”), Norwegian dyr (“expensive”), Icelandic dýr (“expensive”), Yiddish טייַער (tayer, “precious, expensive”).
Senses: examples: text: The dearer the jewel, the greater the love expressed.
text: There's more depends on this than on the value.
The dearest ring in Venice will I give you,
And find it out by proclamation:
Only for this, I pray you, pardon me.
ref: 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 IV, scene i]:
text: This water is sold for 50 cents per ton, which is not dear under the circumstances.
ref: 1902, Briquettes as Fuel in Foreign Countries (report of the United States Bureau of Foreign Commerce)
text: Every summer we can rent a cottage in the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear.
ref: 1966, The Beatles, “When I'm Sixty-Four”:
glosses: High in price; expensive.
examples: text: "Yes, children dear, wait a bit till it turns itself," she answered - she ought to have said "till I turn it"[.]
ref: 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 62:
text: So this was my future home, I thought![…]Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
ref: 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
text: "We shall have to put up with whitebait. And, of course, a dear little chicken with peas and roast potatoes."
ref: 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 129:
glosses: Loved; lovable.
examples: text: "I've never met the kind of man I mean." "Tell me about him. What does he look like?" "Oh, he might look very much like you." "How dear of you to say that!"
ref: 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
glosses: Lovely; kind.
examples: text: Such dear embrace tenderly comforts even in this dear sorrow.
glosses: Loving, affectionate, heartfelt
examples: text: The dearer the giver, the dearer the trinket he brings!
text: […] dear as sacramental wine
To dying lips is all he said […].
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXXVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 58:
glosses: Precious to or greatly valued by someone.
examples: text: Dear Sir/Madam/Miss, please notice our offices will be closed during the following bank holidays:[…].
text: Dearest Joseph/son:...
glosses: A formal way to start (possibly after my) addressing somebody at the beginning of a letter, memo etc.
examples: text: My dear friend, I feel better as soon as you come sit beside my sickbed!
text: “A very welcome, kind, useful present, that means to the parish. By the way, Hopkins, let this go no further. We don't want the tale running round that a rich person has arrived. Churchill, my dear fellow, we have such greedy sharks, and wolves in lamb's clothing.[…]”
ref: 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter VII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
glosses: A formal way to start (often after my) addressing somebody one likes or regards kindly.
examples: text: My dear man, you ought to think twice about who you're trying to blackmail.
glosses: An ironic way to start (often after my) addressing an inferior or someone one dislikes.
glosses: Noble.
Derived terms: Dear Colleague letter
dear diary
dear God
dear heart
dearheart
dearie
dearish
Dear Jane letter
dearling
dear Lord
dearly
dear me
dearness
dear Sir
dear sirs
dearsome
dearth
dearworth
deary
elementary, my dear Watson
endear
endearer
endearing
endearment
for dear life
hold dear
my dear fellow
near and dear
nearest and dearest
old dear
overdear
please excuse my dear Aunt Sally
undear
unendearing
Related terms: darling