-er
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English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ə/
- (General American) enPR: ər, IPA(key): /ɚ/, [ɹ̩]
Audio (US): (file) - Homophones: -or; -a (non-rhotic)
Etymology 1
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”).
Alternative forms
- -'er (following an abbreviation, or sometimes following a number)
Suffix
-er
- (added to verbs) A person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun.
- (added to verbs, informal) A person or thing to which the root verb is done or can be done satisfactorily.
- (added to nouns, chiefly denoting occupations) A person whose occupation is the root noun; (more broadly, occasionally with adjectives) a person characterized by the root.
- (added to numbers, measurements or nouns denoting quantified sets) A person or thing to which a certain number or measurement applies.
- six + -er → sixer
- six foot + -er → six-footer
- three-wheel + -er → three-wheeler
- first grade + -er → first grader
- (slang, chiefly entertainment, with few limitations) Used to form nouns shorter than more formal synonyms.
- (added to nouns) A person who is associated with, or supports a particular theory, doctrine, or political movement.
- (added to nouns or occasionally adjectives, generally) A thing that is related in some way to the root, such as by location or purpose.
- bacon + -er → baconer (“pig raised for bacon”)
- chocolate chip + -er → chocolate chipper (“cookie containing chocolate chips”)
- sternwheel + -er → sternwheeler (“vessel driven by a sternwheel”)
- (slang, added in slang speech to verbs or adjectives, generally) Indicates a correspondence or coincidence between the action or condition indicated by the root and the noun being described.
- (added to a proper noun) Suffix denoting a resident or inhabitant of (the place denoted by the proper noun); used to form a demonym.
- New York + -er → New Yorker
- London + -er → Londoner
- Dublin + -er → Dubliner
- New England + -er → New Englander
- Suffix denoting residency in or around a place, district, area, or region.
- island + -er → islander
- highland + -er → highlander
- eastend + -er → eastender
Usage notes
- The suffix may be used to form an agent noun of many verbs. In compound or phrasal verbs, the suffix usually follows the verb component (as in passerby and runner-up) but is sometimes added at the end, irrespective of the position of the verb component (do-gooder) or is added to both components, often with humorous effect (washer-upper). Rarely, it may even appear three times, as in picker-upperer.
- The occupational sense is often applied generally to members of a group, as in crewer (“a member of a crew”) and Z-lister (“one on the Z-list”); fans and hobbyists, as in K-popper (“a fan of K-pop”), and those who use a particular tool or instrument, as in JavaScripter (“a programmer who uses JavaScript”).
- The entertainment slang sense is sometimes referred to as the Variety -er.
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below are a guide only. For more precise translations, see specific words ending with this suffix.
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See also
Etymology 2
From Middle English -re, -er, from Old English -ru (plural suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-izō (plural suffix). Cognate with Dutch -er (plural ending), German -er (plural ending). See also -ren.
Suffix
-er
- (obsolete, no longer productive) Suffix used to form the plural of a small number of English nouns.
Derived terms
Etymology 3
From Middle English -ere, from Old English -ra, from Proto-West Germanic *iʀō, *-ōʀō, from Proto-Germanic *-izô or Proto-Germanic *-ōzô (a derivative of Etymology 4, below); related to superlative -est.
Suffix
-er
- (added to certain adjectives and adverbs, now especially short ones) More; used to form the comparative.
Usage notes
- (more; used to form the comparative): Most adjectives whose comparatives are formed using the suffix -er also form their superlatives using the suffix -est.
- Final -y preceded by a consonant becomes -i- when the suffix -er or -est is added.
- easy → easier → easiest; gray → grayer → grayest
- When the stress is on the final (or only) syllable of the adjective, and this syllable ends in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, the final consonant is doubled when the suffix is added.
- dim → dimmer → dimmest
- The suffixes -er and -est may be used to form the comparative and superlative of most adjectives and adverbs that have one syllable and some that have two or more syllables.
- hot → hotter → hottest; fast → faster → fastest; funny → funnier → funniest; sugary → sugarier → sugariest
- Some adjectives and adverbs form their comparatives and superlatives irregularly:
- good → better → best; far → farther → farthest, or far → further → furthest, depending on the meaning
- The comparatives and superlatives of other adverbs and adjectives that have two or more syllables, and adjectives that are participles are formed with more and most.
- rigid → more rigid → most rigid; enormous → more enormous → most enormous; burnt → more burnt → most burnt; freezing → more freezing → most freezing
- If in doubt, use more to form the comparative and most to form the superlative; for example, thirsty may become thirstier and thirstiest, but more thirsty and most thirsty are also acceptable.
- Final -y preceded by a consonant becomes -i- when the suffix -er or -est is added.
- Words ending with -ng are pronounced /ŋ/ by most dialects instead of /ŋɡ/. However, when -er or -est is added to an adjective, the /ɡ/ appears in most dialects (but not in wrong)
- long (/lɒŋ/) → longer (/ˈlɒŋ.ɡə(ɹ)/); young (/jʌŋ/) → youngest (/ˈjʌŋ.ɡɪst/)
Translations
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Etymology 4
From Middle English -er, from Old English -or, from Proto-West Germanic *-ōʀ, Proto-Germanic *-ōz.
Suffix
-er
Translations
|
Etymology 5
From Middle English -eren, -ren, -rien, from Old English -erian, -rian, from Proto-West Germanic *-rōn, *-iʀōn, from Proto-Germanic *-rōną or *-izōną. Cognate with West Frisian -erje, Dutch -eren, German -eren, -ern, Danish -re, Swedish -ra.
Suffix
-er
- (added to a verb or imitative sound) Frequently; used to form frequentative verbs.
Synonyms
- (used to form frequentative): -le
Translations
|
See also
- Frequentative on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Etymology 6
From Middle English -er, from Anglo-Norman -er, Old French -er, the infinitive verbal ending.
Suffix
-er
Derived terms
Etymology 7
From Middle English -er, -ere (diminutive suffix). Compare -el.
Suffix
-er
- (added to a verb or noun) Used to form diminutives.
Etymology 8
Attested in the UK since the 19th century. Originally Rugby School slang. Later adopted by Oxford University and then wider British society.
Suffix
-er
- (originally school slang) Used to form slang or colloquial equivalents of words.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Etymology 9
From Middle English -er, from Old English -er, -or, from Proto-Germanic *-raz. Compare -le.
Suffix
-er
- (now chiefly dialectal) A suffix creating adjectives from verbs, indicating aptitude, proneness, or tendency toward a specified action:
Synonyms
Etymology 10
Suffix
-er
- (Chinese literature) Junior, child, younger person. (Attached to a name, usually one syllable of the given name.)
- Li’er said hello to his father.
- 1979, Women of China[1], page 44:
- Yue’er began to laugh again and her tears shimmered like dew on a lotus leaf disturbed by a breeze. Then we heard a sound. It was Man’er.
- 2002 [1934], Xiao Hong, “The Field of Life and Death”, in Howard Goldblatt, transl., The Field of Life and Death & Tales of Hulan River, →ISBN, page 32:
- The fish was laid out on the table, but Ping’er had not come back, nor had his father.
- 2014 [1959], Zhong Lihe, “The Little Ridge”, in T. M. McClellan, transl., From the Old Country: Stories and Sketches of China and Taiwan, →ISBN, page 202:
- Ying’er was not yet three years old. Li’er had always been the one to play with her or to carry her places on his back.
Usage notes
- Especially in Mandarin Chinese literature that has been translated into English, the suffix is often left untranslated in unaccented pinyin. This practice is similar to the use of -kun / -chan / -san or sensei in English-language Japanese fiction.
- Often, an apostrophe (used to mark syllable boundaries in pinyin) is inserted before the hyphen (as in Li'er), though it can also be omitted (Yinger).
Coordinate terms
See also
References
- “-er”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
- Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “-er”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Anagrams
Afrikaans
Etymology
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Suffix
-er
Bavarian
Etymology
From Middle High German -er, from Old High German -ari, from Proto-West Germanic *-ārī. Cognates include German -er and Luxembourgish -er.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-er
- Used to form agent nouns from verbs; -er
Derived terms
Breton
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛʁ/
Suffix
-er
- person or thing that (does the action indicated by the root); used to form an agent noun.
Derived terms
Catalan
Etymology
Inherited from Latin -ārius. Compare the borrowed doublet -ari.
Pronunciation
Suffix
-er m (noun-forming suffix, plural -ers)
- forms nouns meaning the location or object where something is usually found
- forms nouns meaning a plant which is cultivated to produce something
- forms nouns meaning the purpose of something or an object used for that purpose
- tovallola (“towel”) + -er → tovalloler (“towel rail”)
Usage notes
- The equivalent suffix -era can be used to form feminine nouns with these meanings, but usually only the masculine or feminine form will be found in Catalan.
Suffix
-er (adjective-forming suffix, feminine -era, masculine plural -ers, feminine plural -eres)
- forms nouns and adjectives referring to an inhabitant of somewhere
- forms nouns and adjectives referring to engaging in a profession
- forms nouns and adjectives referring to being prone to some activity or characteristic
- forms relational adjectives
- llet (“milk”) + -er → lleter (“milk [relational adjective], dairy”)
- pel·lícula (“film”) + -er → pel·liculer (“film [relational adjective], filmic, cinematic”)
Usage notes
- Because these senses are used to form adjectives of two forms or nouns referring to animate objects, both the masculine and feminine forms will be found in Catalan, with the lemma entry found at the masculine form.
See also
Derived terms
References
- “-er”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
- “-er” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
Chuukese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɛɾ/
Suffix
-er
Related terms
small objects, concepts | large objects, living things | suffix | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
singular | first person | ai | nei | -ei |
second person | omw, om | noum | -om | |
third person | an | noun | -an | |
plural | first person | äm (exclusive) ach (inclusive) |
nöu̇m (exclusive) nöüch (inclusive) |
-em (exclusive) -ach (inclusive) |
second person | ämi, ami | noumi | -emi | |
third person | ar | nour | -er |
Cornish
Etymology
From either Latin -or or English -er.
Suffix
-er m (plural -oryon)
- Forms masculine agent nouns
- Forms adjectives for spoken languages; -phone
Usage notes
- Feminine suffix -es changes this suffix to -ores.
Derived terms
Danish
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [-ʌ]
Suffix
-er
- Forms agent nouns from verbs, with the sense "someone or something that verbs".
- Forms plural forms of many nouns.
- Forms the present tense of many verbs.
- Forms demonyms.
- Forms informal action nouns from verbs.
- (especially definite) Forms informal abbreviations of nouns, with elision.
- Forms a piece of currency from numbers.
- Forms a die throw result from numbers.
- Du skal slå mindst en treer for at komme videre.
- You must throw at least a three to move on.
Usage notes
Senses 1 and 3 often lead to heteronymic pairs. For example, from løbe (“run”) [ˈløːb̥ə] comes løber (“runs”) [ˈløːˀb̥ɐ] (verb form) and løber (“runner”) [ˈløːb̥ɐ] (noun), distinguished by stød.
Derived terms
References
- “-er” in Den Danske Ordbog
Dutch
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ər/
Etymology 1
From Old Dutch *-āri, -ere, from Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz, borrowed from Latin -ārius. Cognate with Dutch -aar.[1]
Suffix
-er m (plural -ers, feminine -ster)
- Forms agent nouns from verbs.
- Forms nouns for a person associated with something.
Derived terms
Descendants
- Afrikaans: -er
Etymology 2
From Old Dutch *-āri, -ere, from Proto-Germanic *warjaz.
Suffix
-er
- Forms nouns denoting male inhabitants or residents of a place.
- Een Amsterdammer
- A (male) inhabitant of Amsterdam
- Synonym: -aar
- Een Amsterdammer
- Formings adjectives denoting something originating from a place.
- Het Groninger museum
- The museum of Groningen
- Synonym: -s
- Het Groninger museum
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “male inhabitant”): -se (“female inhabitant”)
Derived terms
Etymology 3
From Middle Dutch -er, from Old Dutch -iro, -oro, from Proto-Germanic *-izô, *-ōzô.
Suffix
-er
- Forms the comparative form of adjectives.
Derived terms
Etymology 4
From Middle Dutch -er, from Old Dutch -ro, from Proto-West Germanic *-eʀā, from Proto-Germanic *-aizōz.
Suffix
-er
- (archaic, except in fixed expressions) Used to form the (strong) feminine singular genitive.
- onverrichter zake ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- de schoonheid ener vrouw ― the beauty of a woman
- (archaic, except in fixed expressions) Used to form the (strong) feminine singular dative.
- te goeder trouw ― in good faith
Usage notes
- Mostly encountered vestigially, such as in fixed expressions; see for example the descendants at -wijs.
References
- ^ A. van Loey, "Schönfeld's Historische Grammatica van het Nederlands", Zutphen, 8. druk, 1970, →ISBN; § 175
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /e/
Etymology 1
Inherited from Middle French -er, from Old French -ier, from Latin -āre, from Proto-Italic *-āzi.
Suffix
-er
- forms infinitives of first-conjugation verbs
- aimer ― to love
Usage notes
- In newly formed verbs, this suffix may be preceded by a euphonic consonant /t/ after a base ending in an oral vowel to avoid hiatus. In verbs formed from bases ending in nasal vowels, /n/ is inserted and the nasal vowel is denasalized:
Conjugation
infinitive | simple | -er | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
present participle or gerund1 | simple | -ant /ɑ̃/ | |||||
compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
past participle | -é /e/ | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | -e /ə/2 |
-es /ə/ |
-e /ə/ |
-ons /ɔ̃/ |
-ez /e/ |
-ent /ə/ |
imperfect | -ais /ɛ/ |
-ais /ɛ/ |
-ait /ɛ/ |
-ions /jɔ̃/ |
-iez /je/ |
-aient /ɛ/ | |
past historic3 | -ai /e/ |
-as /a/ |
-a /a/ |
-âmes /am/ |
-âtes /at/ |
-èrent /ɛʁ/ | |
future | -erai /ə.ʁe/ |
-eras /ə.ʁa/ |
-era /ə.ʁa/ |
-erons /ə.ʁɔ̃/ |
-erez /ə.ʁe/ |
-eront /ə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
conditional | -erais /ə.ʁɛ/ |
-erais /ə.ʁɛ/ |
-erait /ə.ʁɛ/ |
-erions /ə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
-eriez /ə.ʁje/ |
-eraient /ə.ʁɛ/ | |
(compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
past anterior3 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | -e /ə/2 |
-es /ə/ |
-e /ə/ |
-ions /jɔ̃/ |
-iez /je/ |
-ent /ə/ |
imperfect3 | -asse /as/ |
-asses /as/ |
-ât /a/ |
-assions /a.sjɔ̃/ |
-assiez /a.sje/ |
-assent /as/ | |
(compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect3 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | -e /ə/ |
— | -ons /ɔ̃/ |
-ez /e/ |
— | |
compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 -é when inverted. | |||||||
3 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
Etymology 2
Inherited from Middle French -er, from Old French -ier, from Latin -ārius.
Suffix
-er m (plural -ers)
- forms nouns indicating the person who exercises a particular activity
- Synonym: (female equivalent) -ère
- boulanger ― baker
Derived terms
Gagauz
Alternative forms
- -ii, -iy (Cioc-Maidan, Avdarma, Vulcănești, Etulia, Cișmichioi)
Etymology
Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish [script needed] (-yorır, -yörir), [script needed] (-yor, -yör), ultimately from Proto-Turkic *yorï-. Irregular evolution is explained as ıyor > *ıor > *ıar > êr, with contamination from the suffix -ar.[1] Compare Turkish -iyor, Turkmen -ýar. Doublet of örümää.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /eˑɾ/
Suffix
-er (back vowel variant -êr)
- marks the present imperfective tense
References
- ^ Dinçaslan, M.F. (2023). Gagavuz Türkçesi Ana Ağız Alanları ile Alt Ağız Gruplarının Şimdiki Zaman Ekinin Varyantlarına Göre Tasnifi. Uluslararası Türk Lehçe Araştırmaları Dergisi / International Journal of Turkic Dialects (TÜRKLAD). 7. Cilt, 2. Sayı, 369-38
Further reading
- N. A Baskakov, editor (1972), “-er”, in Gagauzsko-Russko-Moldavskij Slovarʹ [Gagauz-Russian-Moldovan Dictionary], Moskva: Izdatelʹstvo Sovetskaja Enciklopedija, →ISBN, page 641
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ɐ]
Etymology 1
From Middle High German -ære, -er, from Old High German -āri, from Proto-West Germanic *-ārī, from Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz, further etymology unknown but possibly from Latin -ārius.[1]
Suffix
-er m (strong, genitive -ers, plural -er)
- Forms agent nouns etc. from verbs, suffixed to the verb stem.
- Forms instance nouns from verbs.
- Indicates something defined by a number; in the plural often all numbers with the same first digits
Declension
Derived terms
Related terms
Etymology 2
From Middle High German -er, a plural ending for some neuter nouns.
Suffix
-er
- Used to form the plurals of some nouns.
Usage notes
- The plural ending -er is used in a fairly large number of neuters (including all those in -tum) and a small number of masculines.
Etymology 3
From Middle High German -ære, -er, from Old High German -āri, from Proto-Germanic *warjaz.
Suffix
-er m (strong, genitive -ers, plural -er)
- Forms nouns indicating an inhabitant of a place, or a person originating from a place.
Declension
Derived terms
Etymology 4
Probably originated from the prepositioned genitive plural of etymology 3 above, e.g.: der Berliner Pfannkuchen = "the Berliners’ pancake", and then "the Berlin(er) pancake", reanalysed as an adjective instead of a noun and seen as being in the nominative singular (due to the ambiguity of the definite article der, which is both masculine nominative and plural genitive).[2][3]
Suffix
-er
- Forms invariable adjectives from place names, with a genitival meaning, indicating origin from or association with that place.
Usage notes
- In contemporary German, words formed with this suffix -er are written with a capital letter (§ 61 of the official reform spelling rules as of 2018), e.g. ein Berliner Pfannkuchen. In the past, they were sometimes written with a lowercase letter like most other adjectives, e.g. ein berliner Pfannkuchen.[4]
- In case of placenames which are written with a space, the derived word can be written with a space or with a hyphen (§ 49 of the official reform spelling rules as of 2011), e.g. Bad Schandau → Bad Schandauer or Bad-Schandauer.
- Since adjectives in -er are undeclined, they cannot normally support genitives by themselves. However, in the feminine and plural the ending -er happens to be same as that of a declined (strong) adjective and according pseudo-genitives may be encountered, such as Meldungen Berliner Zeitungen (“reports of Berlin newspapers”) instead of more proper Meldungen von Berliner Zeitungen. Such usage has been discouraged, but is no longer considered an error.
Derived terms
Etymology 5
From Middle High German -er.
Suffix
-er
- Forms the comparative form of adjectives.
References
- ^ A. van Loey, "Schönfeld's Historische Grammatica van het Nederlands", Zutphen, 8. druk, 1970, →ISBN; § 175
- ^ Johann Christoph Adelung, Grammatisch-kritisches Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen Mundart, vol. 1 (Leipzig, 1793), pages 1848-1852, sub verbo 4. -Er
- ^ Hermann Möller, Ahd. frôno (nhd. fron-) als elliptischer Plural, in the Zeitschrift für deutsche Wortforschung, volume 4 (editor Friedrich Kluge; Straßburg, 1903), page 95
- ^ The current official spelling rules prescribe the capital letter without further explanation and without indicating the part of speech of the words formed with the suffix (compare -isch/-sch, derivatives of which are labelled adjectives in § 62).
Hungarian
Etymology
Possibly from English -er, by analogy of word pairs like blog and blogger (whose doubled final consonant is consistently pronounced long in Hungarian, as opposed to English) and/or perhaps earlier borrowed word pairs like stop and stoppol. Other existing slang terms ending in -er, like vaker, haver, sóder, might have played some role. (Can this(+) etymology be sourced?)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ɛr]
Suffix
-er
- (slang, slightly derogatory) Added to a shortened form of a noun, lengthening the first consonant following its first vowel, to derive a noun.
Derived terms
See also
- -esz (as in alkesz, pálesz; slang terms)
- Appendix:Hungarian suffixes
Further reading
- A szavak megoszlása az élő nyelvhasználathoz viszonyítva. Section: Formai neologizmusok (Judit Szépe, linguist)
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ˈɛr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [ˈɛr]
Suffix
-er
- first-person singular present passive subjunctive of -ō (first conjugation)
Luxembourgish
Etymology
From a Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz, from Latin -ārius.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /eʀ/, [ɐ]
Suffix
-er
- -er (suffix used to form agent nouns from verbs)
Derived terms
Middle Dutch
Etymology
From Old Dutch -iro, -oro, from Proto-Germanic *-izô, *-ōzô.
Suffix
-er
- -er. Forms the comparative of adjectives.
Alternative forms
Derived terms
See Category:Middle Dutch comparative adjectives.
Related terms
Descendants
- Dutch: -er
Middle English
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Old French -ier, from Latin -ārius.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /-ˈeːr/, /-ər/
Suffix
-er
- (chiefly no longer productive) Reflects Old French deverbal formations forming agent or instrument nouns.
Usage notes
- Due to vowel reduction, this suffix is often indistinguishable from -ere; especially in Late Middle English, it further tends to be conflated with -our (see that entry for forms reflecting such confusion).
Derived terms
Descendants
References
- “-ē̆r(e, suf.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 2
Suffix
-er
- alternative form of -ere (agentive suffix)
Etymology 3
Suffix
-er
- alternative form of -ere (comparative suffix)
Etymology 4
Suffix
-er
- alternative form of -re (plural suffix)
Etymology 5
Suffix
-er
- alternative form of -eren
Middle French
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old French -ier / -er, from Latin -āre.
Alternative forms
- -ier (typically early Middle French)
Suffix
-er
- Forms infinitives of first-conjugation verbs
Usage notes
- Many of these verbs are directly descended from Latin, rather than from stem + suffix
Derived terms
Descendants
- French: -er
Etymology 2
From Old French -ier, from Latin -ārius.
Alternative forms
- -ier (typically early Middle French)
Suffix
-er
Derived terms
Descendants
Norman
Etymology
Suffix
-er
- alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix
Derived terms
Northern Kurdish
Etymology
Most probably not a cognate of English -er or Latin -ōr or -tōr, and instead a back-formation from -ker (a variant of -ger (“-ist”)) understood as "k-" (present stem of kirin) + "-er". Natively only exists with the most basic verbs such as kirin (-ker), birin (-ber), xistin (-xer or -xîner or -êxer), dan (-der), anîn/înan (-îner)... Later also conflated with -kar (“suffix indicating a job or duty”) and -dar (“suffix indicating a possessor”). Popularized in the 20th century under the influence of similar suffixes in European languages. Before that (and now natively) diminutives such as -ok, -oke, -ek, -ik was used to form agent nouns; which are also present participle suffixes.
Despite being less likely, can still be from Proto-Indo-European *-tḗr, but the -r- is lost in Northwestern Iranic and that would have given *-it, *-id or lost entirely depending on the position, compare Persian برادر and Northern Kurdish bira.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɛɾ/
- Rhymes: -ɛɾ
- Hyphenation: -er
Suffix
-er f
- used to form nouns referring to doer or who works on something
- bû (“to be”) + -er → bûyer (“event”)
- destpêkirin (“to start”) + -er → destpêker (“starter”)
Derived terms
Norwegian Bokmål
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Suffix
-er
Etymology 2
From Danish -er, from Old Norse -ari, from Medieval Latin and Middle Low German words, both from Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz, from Latin -ārius.
Suffix
-er
- (added to verbs) person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb
- (added to place names) person or thing that originates in the place indicated by the place name
Etymology 3
Suffix
-er
- suffix added to most of indefinite plural nouns, usually identical to Danish, but unlike Nynorsk and Swedish
Derived terms
References
- “-er” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Suffix
-er
- Used to form indefinite plurals for most feminine nouns.
- Used to form indefinite plurals for some masculine nouns.
- Used to form present tense for one class of weak verbs.
- (obsolete) Used to form present tense for strong verbs.
Suffix
-er
- imperative of -era
Old English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /er/
Suffix
-er
- alternative form of -or
Old French
Etymology 1
Suffix
-er
- alternative form of -ier, verbal suffix
Usage notes
- All varieties of Old French use -er but it's more common in Anglo-Norman than in France, specifically before certain consonants such as c and g.
Etymology 2
Suffix
-er
- (chiefly Anglo-Norman) alternative form of -ier, suffix indicating a profession
- falconer, fauconer
- falconer
Old Frisian
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *iʀ, from Proto-Germanic *iz, from Proto-Indo-European *ís. Cognates include Old High German er, Old Norse er and Gothic 𐌹𐍃 (is).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈer/
Pronoun
-er
- enclitic nominative of hī
Descendants
Old Swedish
Etymology
Suffix
-er
- denotes the nominative singular of adjectives, masculine a-stem, i-stem, u-stem, and an-stem, as well as feminine ijo-stem nouns
- denotes the nominative and accusative plurals of r- and consonant stem nouns
- fisker
- fish
- dø̄ver
- deaf
Polish
Etymology
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛr/
- Rhymes: -ɛr
- Syllabification: [please specify syllabification manually]
Suffix
-er m
- -er, creates an agent noun
Declension
Animate:
Animal:
Inanimate:
Derived terms
Further reading
- -er in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Portuguese
Etymology
Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese -er, from Latin -ēre. The short -ere of some Latin verbs was reinterpreted as either -er or -ir.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈe(ʁ)/ [ˈe(h)]
- (São Paulo) IPA(key): /ˈe(ɾ)/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /ˈe(ʁ)/ [ˈe(χ)]
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈe(ɻ)/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈeɾ/
- (Southern Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈe.ɾi/
- Rhymes: (Portugal, São Paulo) -eɾ, (Brazil) -eʁ, (Brazil, with r-dropping) -e
Suffix
-er (verb-forming suffix, first-person singular present -o, first-person singular preterite -i, past participle -ido)
- forms the infinitive of the second-conjugation verbs
Conjugation
Singular | Plural | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First-person (eu) |
Second-person (tu) |
Third-person (ele / ela / você) |
First-person (nós) |
Second-person (vós) |
Third-person (eles / elas / vocês) | |
Infinitive | ||||||
Impersonal | -er | |||||
Personal | -er | -eres | -er | -ermos | -erdes | -erem |
Gerund | ||||||
-endo | ||||||
Past participle | ||||||
Masculine | -ido | -idos | ||||
Feminine | -ida | -idas | ||||
Indicative | ||||||
Present | -o | -es | -e | -emos | -eis | -em |
Imperfect | -ia | -ias | -ia | -íamos | -íeis | -iam |
Preterite | -i | -este | -eu | -emos | -estes | -eram |
Pluperfect | -era | -eras | -era | -êramos | -êreis | -eram |
Future | -erei | -erás | -erá | -eremos | -ereis | -erão |
Conditional | -eria | -erias | -eria | -eríamos | -eríeis | -eriam |
Subjunctive | ||||||
Present | -a | -as | -a | -amos | -ais | -am |
Imperfect | -esse | -esses | -esse | -êssemos | -êsseis | -essem |
Future | -er | -eres | -er | -ermos | -erdes | -erem |
Imperative | ||||||
Affirmative | -e | -a | -amos | -ei | -am | |
Negative (não) | não -as | não -a | não -amos | não -ais | não -am |
Saterland Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian -ere, from Proto-West Germanic *-ārī. Cognates include West Frisian -er and German -er.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /-ər/
Suffix
-er
- Forms agent nouns from verbs; -er
Declension
Scots
Etymology
From Middle English -ere, from Old English -ere.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /-ər/
Suffix
-er
- Forms agent nouns from verbs; -er
Spanish
Etymology
Suffix
-er (verb-forming suffix, first-person singular present -o, first-person singular preterite -í, past participle -ido)
- the infinitive suffix for many verbs
Conjugation
infinitive | -er | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
gerund | -iendo | ||||||
past participle | masculine | feminine | |||||
singular | -ido | -ida | |||||
plural | -idos | -idas | |||||
singular | plural | ||||||
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
indicative | yo | tú vos |
él/ella/ello usted |
nosotros nosotras |
vosotros vosotras |
ellos/ellas ustedes | |
present | -o | -estú -ésvos |
-e | -emos | -éis | -en | |
imperfect | -ía | -ías | -ía | -íamos | -íais | -ían | |
preterite | -í | -iste | -ió | -imos | -isteis | -ieron | |
future | -eré | -erás | -erá | -eremos | -eréis | -erán | |
conditional | -ería | -erías | -ería | -eríamos | -eríais | -erían | |
subjunctive | yo | tú vos |
él/ella/ello usted |
nosotros nosotras |
vosotros vosotras |
ellos/ellas ustedes | |
present | -a | -astú -ásvos2 |
-a | -amos | -áis | -an | |
imperfect (ra) |
-iera | -ieras | -iera | -iéramos | -ierais | -ieran | |
imperfect (se) |
-iese | -ieses | -iese | -iésemos | -ieseis | -iesen | |
future1 | -iere | -ieres | -iere | -iéremos | -iereis | -ieren | |
imperative | — | tú vos |
usted | nosotros nosotras |
vosotros vosotras |
ustedes | |
affirmative | -etú -évos |
-a | -amos | -ed | -an | ||
negative | no -as | no -a | no -amos | no -áis | no -an |
See also
Swedish
Suffix
-er
- One of two suffixes for indefinite plural for nouns of the third declension (common and neuter); the second one is -r
- Suffix for present tense, active voice, indicative mood for one of the groups of Swedish verbs
- Agent noun suffix, often for loan words ending with -ik.
Usage notes
See the usage notes for -r.
See also
- plural suffix
- present tense suffix
- agent noun suffix
Anagrams
Turkish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈær/
Etymology 1
Inherited from Ottoman Turkish ـر (-r, -er), from Proto-Turkic *-ür. Cognate with Old Turkic 𐰼 (r² /-(e)r/). Negative -mez are from Proto-Turkic *-meŕ, from Proto-Turkic *-me + *-er or *-ür (Azerbaijani -ər (“indefinite future suffix”) — -məz, but -ir (“simple present suffix”) — -mir).
Suffix
-er
- Simple present and aorist tense marker
Suffix
-er -mez
- as soon as
- Eve gelir gelmez duş alırım.
- As soon as I get home, I take a shower.
Usage notes
- Can change to -ir (almak → alır, but içmek → içer). There are some rules governing the usage of -er/ir, the former is used in case of monosyllabic stems, while the latter is used elsewhere; with the exceptions of 14 verbs below which uses -ir on the aorist
- almak — alır
- bilmek — bilir
- bulmak — bulur
- denmek — denir
- durmak — durur
- gelmek — gelir
- görmek — görür
- kalmak — kalır
- olmak — olur
- ölmek — ölür
- sanmak — sanır
- varmak — varır
- vermek — verir
- vurmak — vurur
The suffix -r is used after verb stems ending in a vowel. Unlike most negations of tense suffixes which regularly uses the suffix -me, negative aorist suffix is -mez instead of *-mer.
Derived terms
Related terms
Etymology 2
Suffix
-er
- Makes adjectives out of verbs
- Makes nouns out of verbs
Etymology 3
Inherited from Ottoman Turkish ـر (-er), from Proto-Turkic [Term?].
Suffix
-er
- suffix for distributive numbers
Derived terms
Walloon
Etymology
Inherited from Old French -ier, from Latin -āre.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /e/
Suffix
-er
- forms infinitives of first conjugation verbs.
- inmer ― to love
Conjugation
infinitive | simple | -er | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | aveur + past participle | ||||||
gerund1 | simple | -ant | |||||
compound | åyant + past participle | ||||||
past participle | masculine | feminine | |||||
singular | -é | -êye | |||||
plural | -és | -êyes | |||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | dji (dj') | ti (t') | i (il) / ele | dji (dj') / nos2 | vos | i (il) | |
(simple tenses) |
present | -e | -es | -e | -ans | -ez | -èt or -nut3 |
imperfect | -éve | -éves | -éve | -éns | -îz | -ént | |
preterite | -a | -as | -a | -îs | -îz | -ît | |
future | -rè | -rès | -rè | -rans | -roz | -ront | |
conditional | -reu | -reus | -reut | -réns | -rîz | -rént | |
(compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of aveur + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect indicative of aveur + past participle | ||||||
past anterior | preterite indicative of aveur + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future of aveur + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional of aveur + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | ki dj' | ki t' | k' i (il) / k' ele | ki dj' / ki nos2 | ki vos | k' i (il) | |
(simple tenses) |
present | -e | -es | -e | -anxhe | -oxhe | -èxhe or -nuxhe3 |
imperfect | -axhe | -axhes | -axhe | -énxhe | -îxhe | -énxhe | |
(compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of aveur + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of aveur + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | -e! | — | -ans! | -ez! | — | |
compound | — | simple imperative of aveur + past participle | — | simple imperative of aveur + past participle | simple imperative of aveur + past participle | — | |
1 The Walloon gerund is usable only with the preposition tot (Eastern, Southern) or e (Central, Western). | |||||||
2 The second person plural dji is used in Central and Southern dialects | |||||||
3 The form -èt/-exhe is used in Eastern and Southern dialects, the form -nut/-nuxhe is used in Central and Western dialects. |
Welsh
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛr/
Etymology 1
Suffix
-er
- (literary) verb suffix for the impersonal present subjunctive
- (literary) verb suffix for the impersonal imperative
Etymology 2
Suffix
-er m
- suffix forming nouns