beer
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: bîr
ipa: /bɪə/
ipa: /bɪɚ/
ipa: /bɪɹ/
ipa: /biə/
ipa: /biɹ/
note: East Anglia, cheer–chair merger
ipa: /bɛː/
note: Indic
ipa: /bia̯(ɾ)/
note: non-rhotic, also
ipa: /biːɾ/
homophone: bier
homophone: bere
homophone: bare (cheer–chair merger)
homophone: bear (cheer–chair merger)
rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
Forms: form: beers
Etymology: From Middle English bere, from Old English bēor (“beer”) (Oxford OED notes: "rare, except in poetry"), from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą (“beer”) (putatively from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewsóm), meaning “brewer's yeast”.
However, also see the "beer" entry on EtymOnline (q.v.), which links a connection to monastic Vulgar Latin *biber (“a drink, beverage”), from Latin bibere (“to drink”). Samuel Johnson in his famous 18th-century A Dictionary of the English Language guessed it was from (unattested) Welsh *bîr; he distinguished it in his time from ale — the ancient usual word — by beer being older-aged and/or smaller.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bjoor (“beer”), West Frisian bier (“beer”), Dutch bier (“beer”), German Low German Beer (“beer”), German Bier (“beer”), dialectal Swedish bjor, bör (“beer”), Norwegian Nynorsk bjor (“beer”), Faroese bjór (“beer”), Icelandic bjór (“beer”).
Senses: examples: text: Beer is brewed all over the world.
text: “[…] 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. […]”
ref: 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
glosses: An alcoholic drink fermented from starch material, commonly barley malt; often with hops or some other substance (like gruit) to impart a bitter flavor.
glosses: A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.
glosses: A solution produced by steeping plant materials in water or another fluid.
examples: text: I bought a few beers from the shop for the party.
text: Can I buy you a beer?
text: I'd like two beers and a glass of white wine.
glosses: A glass, bottle, or can of any of the above beverages.
examples: text: Pilsner is one of the most commonly served beers in Europe.
text: I haven't tried this beer before.
text: I had two beers yesterday at the restaurant.
glosses: A variety of the above beverages.
Synonyms: word: ale
word: amber fluid
word: amber nectar
word: beer
word: bitter
word: brew
word: brewski
word: brewsky
word: cold one
word: coldie
word: liquid bread
word: oat soda
word: reeb
word: suds
word: tinnie
word: wobbly pop
Hypernyms: word: alcoholic beverage
word: drink
Hyponyms: word: barley wine
word: belly vengeance
word: black stuff
word: Broon
word: Broonale
word: brown ale
word: bock
word: draught
word: golden ale
word: homebrew
word: India pale ale
word: IPA
word: Kölsch
word: lager
word: lambic
word: microbrew
word: mild
word: new
word: old
word: pale ale
word: pilsener
word: pilsner
word: pils
word: porter
word: session ale
word: session beer
word: session bitter
word: shandy
word: stingo
word: stout
word: weissbier
word: witbier
Meronyms: word: adjunct
word: alcohol
word: barley
word: ester
word: head
word: hop
word: water
word: yeast
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: all foam and no beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: barley beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beauty is in the eye of the beer holder
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerage
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beeraholic
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beeramid
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer and pretzels game
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer and skittles
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer baby
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer bar
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer baron
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer bash
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer-bellied
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer belly
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer bike
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer blast
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer bong
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer bottle
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer bread
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer-bust
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer-butt chicken
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer can
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer-can chicken
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer cellar
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer cheese
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer clock
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer coaster
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer darts
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer die
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beered-up
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beeregar
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer engine
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerfest
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer flight
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer frame
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer fridge
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerful
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer garden
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beergarita
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: Beergate
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer-glass
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer glass
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer goggles
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer-gut
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer gut
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer hall
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer hand
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer hat
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerhead
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer helmet
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerhound
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerhouse
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerily
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerish
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer knot
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer league
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer leaguer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerless
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer lever
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerlike
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer line
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer-lore
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer lore
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beermaker
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beermaking
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer mat
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer match
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer mile
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer money
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beermonger
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer muscles
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer mustard
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer nut
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer o'clock
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerocracy
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerocrat
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer-off
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer paddle
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer parlor
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer parlour
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer pong
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerpot
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer pull
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer run
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beershop
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beersicle
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer snake
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer soup
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer stick
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerstone
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beertail
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beertender
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer tent
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer ticket
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beertini
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer up
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: Beervana
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerware
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer wench
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer-wort
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beerwort
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beer wort
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: beery
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: birch beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: black beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: bock beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: buttered beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: champagne taste on a beer billfold
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: champagne taste on a beer budget
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: champagne taste on a beer pocketbook
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: champagne taste on a beer salary
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: champagne taste on a beer wallet
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: chowder beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: coldbeer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: country beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: craft beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: cry in one's beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: cry into one's beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: ear beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: egg in one's beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: flight of beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: free as in beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: ginger beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: gruitbeer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: guest beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: have no fear of ice cold beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: hold my beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: ice beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: kaffir beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: keg beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: lager-beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: life is not all beer and skittles
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: malt beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: matai beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: microbeer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: near beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: needle beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: nonbeer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: nose beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: October beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: root beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: root beer float
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: session beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: silver beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: skittles and beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: sky beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: small beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: smoked beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: spruce beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: steam beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: table beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: weep in one's beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: weep into one's beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: weiss beer
sense: Terms derived from beer (noun)
word: wheat beer
Related terms: word: gage
word: half
word: jug
word: middie
word: pint
word: pitcher
word: pony
word: pot
word: schooner
word: barrel
word: bottle
word: can
word: cask
word: keg
word: :Category:Beer