Bier

• Biär, Pier

From Middle High German bier, from Old High German bior, from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą (“beer”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰews- (“dross, sediment, brewer's yeast”).

Cognate with German Bier, Dutch bier, English beer, Icelandic bjór. More at beer.

• IPA^(key): /biər/

Bier n (plural Bier)

1. beer

• IPA^(key): /biə̯/
• Homophone: Bir (may be distinguished by tone)

From Middle High German bier, from Old High German bior, from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą.

Bier n or m (plural Bier)

1. (many dialects) beer (drink)

• Masculine in southern Moselle Franconian, otherwise neuter.

• Beer (western Moselle Franconian)

From Middle High German bēr, from Old High German bēr, from Proto-West Germanic *bair.

Bier m (plural Biere)

1. (most dialects) a male uncastrated pig; a boar

   Buur, Bär un Bier sinn drei kodde Dier.

   Farmer, bear and boar are three evil animals. (Old Colognian proverb expressing city-dwellers’ snobbery)

• Bärch, Barch (castrated)

From Middle High German bier, from Old High German bior, from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą (“beer”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰews-, *bheus- (“dross, sediment, brewer's yeast”).

Akin to Dutch bier, Low German Beer, bêr, English beer, Icelandic bjór. More at beer.

• IPA^(key): /biːɐ̯/

• Audio:

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• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -iːɐ̯

Bier n (strong, genitive Bieres or Biers, plural Biere or Bier, diminutive Bierchen n)

1. (beverage) beer (alcoholic beverage fermented from starch material; a serving of this beverage)
2. (figurative, informal) business, beeswax (personal affairs)

   Das ist nicht mein Bier! ― That's none of my business!

• As is common with beverages in German, the unchanged plural Bier can be used after numerals in the sense of “quantities of beer” (glasses, bottles, cans). One may order:

  Zwei Bier, bitte!

  Two beers, please!

  (Nota bene: In many places of the German language area, this is not a common order; instead one often specifies Pils, Weißbier, Kölsch, etc.)

• The marked plural Biere is used to mean different kinds of beer.

  Pils und Kölsch sind beliebte deutsche Biere.

  Pils and Kölsch are popular German beers.

• bierartig

• → Italian: birra (see there for further descendants)
• → Romanian: bere
• → Swedish: bir

• “Bier” in Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm, 16 vols., Leipzig 1854–1961.
• “Bier” in Duden online
• “Bier” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Bier”, in PONS (in German), Stuttgart: PONS GmbH, 2001–2025

Inherited from Central Franconian bier, from Old High German bior, from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą (“beer”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰews-, *bheus- (“dross, sediment, brewer's yeast”).^[1]

Cognate with German Bier.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpiːa/
• Rhymes: -iːa
• Syllabification: Bier
• Homophone: Bia

Bier n (plural Biere)

1. beer

• IPA^(key): /biːr/, [biə̯], [ˈbiː.ɐ]
• Rhymes: -iːə

From Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô. Compare German Bär, English bear, Dutch beer.

Bier m (plural Bieren)

1. bear

From Old High German bira, from Latin pirum.

Bier f (plural Bieren)

1. pear
2. light bulb

• Bir (superseded in 2019)

From Proto-West Germanic *baʀi, from Proto-Germanic *bazją. Compare German Beere, Danish bær, English berry.

Bier n (plural Bier)

1. berry

• "Bier" can also mean "nut" or "bonce" (as in head) when used in Luxembourgish slang: i.e.: "wann's de dech net gëss, kriss de eng op d'Bier!" meaning "if you don't behave, you'll be hit in the head!"

From Middle High German bier, from Old High German bior, from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ.

Compare German Bier, Dutch bier, English beer.

Bier n (plural Biere)

1. beer

• Bierhef