beer

beer · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic*beuzą
2. Proto-West Germanic*beuʀ
3. Old Englishbēor
4. Middle Englishber
5. English todaybeer

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”).

beer · noun²

1. Middle English · derived frombeere
2. English todaybeer

From Middle English beere, equivalent to be + -er.

Beer · proper noun³

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*barwaz“grove”
2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*baru
3. Old English · derived frombearu“grove”
4. English todayBeer

From Old English bearu (“grove”), from Proto-West Germanic *baru, from Proto-Germanic *barwaz (“grove”).

Beer · proper noun⁴

1. Old English · derived frombār“boar”
2. English todayBeer

* As an English surname, from the place name in Devon (see Etymology 1 above); also from Old English bār (“boar”). * As a north German and Dutch surname, from beer (“bear”). See also the surnames Baer and Bahr. * As an Alemannic German surname, spelling variant of Bier (“beer”).

Words from the same roots