-er
Language: English
Part of speech: suffix
Pronunciation: ipa: /ə/
enpr: ər
ipa: /ɚ/
ipa: [ɹ̩]
homophone: -or
homophone: -a (non-rhotic)
Forms: form: -'er
Etymology: Etymology tree
Latin -ariusbor.
Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz
Proto-West Germanic *-ārī
Old English -ere
Middle English -ere
English -er
Inherited from Middle English -ere, -er, from Old English -ere, from Proto-West Germanic *-ārī, from Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz, usually thought to have been borrowed from Latin -ārius; see Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz for an alternate theory. Reinforced by Middle English -er, from Old French -ier, also from Latin -ārius; compare the synonymous but unrelated Old French -or, -eor (Anglo-Norman variant -our), from Latin -(ā)tor, from Proto-Indo-European *-tōr.
The "inhabitant" sense is sometimes connected to Middle English -wær(r)e, -ware, from Old English -ware (suffix denoting residency), from Proto-West Germanic *-wari, from Proto-Germanic *warjaz (“inhabitant”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to protect”).
Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian -er, West Frisian -er, Dutch -er, German Low German -er, German -er, Danish -er, Swedish -are and Icelandic -ari.
Senses: examples: text: read + -er → reader
text: cook + -er → cooker
text: compute + -er → computer
text: run + -er → runner
text: toast + -er → toaster
text: swim + -er → swimmer
text: do good + -er → do-gooder
antonyms: -ee
glosses: A person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun.
raw_tags: added to verbs
examples: text: look + -er → looker (“an attractive person”)
text: keep + -er → keeper (“a person or thing worth keeping”)
glosses: A person or thing to which the root verb is done or can be done satisfactorily.
raw_tags: added to verbs
examples: text: astrology + -er → astrologer
text: baby boom + -er → baby boomer
text: conlang + -er → conlanger
text: cricket + -er → cricketer
text: trumpet + -er → trumpeter
text: zine + -er → ziner
qualifier: chiefly denoting occupations
glosses: A person whose occupation is the root noun; (more broadly, occasionally with adjectives) a person characterized by the root.
raw_tags: added to nouns
examples: text: six + -er → sixer
text: six foot + -er → six-footer
text: three-wheel + -er → three-wheeler
text: first grade + -er → first grader
qualifier: measurements or nouns denoting quantified sets
glosses: A person or thing to which a certain number or measurement applies.
raw_tags: added to numbers
examples: text: percent + -er → percenter (“commission agent”)
text: one hand + -er → one-hander (“one-man show”)
text: oat + -er → oater (“a Western-themed movie”)
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
glosses: Used to form nouns shorter than more formal synonyms.
raw_tags: with few limitations
examples: text: birth + -er → birther
text: flat earth + -er → flat-earther
text: truth + -er → truther
text: woke + -er → woker
glosses: A person who is associated with, or supports a particular theory, doctrine, or political movement.
raw_tags: added to nouns
examples: text: bacon + -er → baconer (“pig raised for bacon”)
text: chocolate chip + -er → chocolate chipper (“cookie containing chocolate chips”)
text: sternwheel + -er → sternwheeler (“vessel driven by a sternwheel”)
glosses: A thing that is related in some way to the root, such as by location or purpose.
raw_tags: added to nouns or occasionally adjectives
examples: text: piss + -er → pisser (“a hilariously funny event or situation”)
glosses: Indicates a correspondence or coincidence between the action or condition indicated by the root and the noun being described.
raw_tags: added in slang speech to verbs or adjectives
examples: text: New York + -er → New Yorker
text: London + -er → Londoner
text: Dublin + -er → Dubliner
text: New England + -er → New Englander
glosses: Suffix denoting a resident or inhabitant of (the place denoted by the proper noun); used to form a demonym.
raw_tags: added to a proper noun
examples: text: island + -er → islander
text: highland + -er → highlander
text: East End + -er → East-Ender
glosses: Suffix denoting residency in or around a place, district, area, or region.
Related terms: -eer