beer
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Germanic *beuzą
Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ
Old English bēor
Middle English ber
English beer
From Middle English ber, 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”).
Inflected forms:
form: beers
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: beers
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: beering
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: beered
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: beered
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: An alcoholic drink fermented from starch material, commonly barley malt; often with hops or some other substance (like gruit) to impart a bitter flavor.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
examples: Beer is brewed all over the world.
“[…] 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. […]”
gloss: A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
gloss: A solution produced by steeping plant materials in water or another fluid.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
gloss: A glass, bottle, or can of any of the above beverages.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: 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.
gloss: A variety of the above beverages.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: Pilsner is one of the most commonly served beers in Europe.
I haven't tried this beer before.
I had two beers yesterday at the restaurant.
gloss: To give beer to (someone).
pos: verb
tags: informal
transitive
examples: No doubt he then can feed us, wine us, beer us, And cook us something that can warm and cheer us.
“Beer me!” said Goody. “Also your weed is shit. Where’s the good stuff, dude?”
I heard Patty Marsh yelling, ‘Beer him, Eleanor!’
“Beer me!” To his astonishment she obeyed his command, appearing a minute later with a glass of beer and a wry smile.
gloss: To drink beer.
pos: verb
tags: informal
intransitive
examples: In Japan, students on a Friday night announce “Let's beer!”
Synonyms: ale
amber fluid
amber nectar
beer
bitter
brew
brewski
brewsky
cold one
coldie
liquid bread
oat soda
reeb
suds
tinnie
wobbly pop
Related words: gage
half
jug
middie
pint
pitcher
pony
pot
schooner
barrel
bottle
can
cask
keg
:Category:Beer
Translations: