dear

dear · adjective, noun, verb, adverb, interjection¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*dʰegʷʰ-“to burn; hot, warm”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*diurijaz“dear, precious; expensive”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*diurī
4. Old English · inherited fromdēore
5. Middle English · inherited fromdere
6. English todaydear

From Middle English dere, from Old English dēore, dīere, dīore, dȳre (“of great value or excellence, expensive, beloved”), from Proto-West Germanic *diurī, from Proto-Germanic *diurijaz (“dear, precious; expensive”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰ- (“to burn; hot, warm”). Cognates Cognate with Yola dear (“dear”), Saterland Frisian djuur (“precious, dear, costly, expensive”), Alemannic German tüür (“expensive”), Dutch dier, duur (“expensive”), German teuer (“expensive”), Vilamovian taojer, tojer (“dear”), West Flemish diere (“expensive”), Yiddish טײַער (tayer, “expensive”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish dyr (“expensive”), Faroese dýrur (“expensive”), Icelandic dýr (“expensive”), Finnish tyyris (“expensive”), Livonian tõurõz (“dear”), Northern Sami divrras (“expensive”).

dear · adjective²

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*deuzaz
2. Old English · inherited fromdēor
3. Middle English · inherited fromdere“fierce, severe, hard, deadly”
4. English todaydear

From Middle English dere (“fierce, severe, hard, deadly”), from Old English dēor, dȳr (“brave, bold; severe, dire, vehement”), from Proto-Germanic *deuzaz. Cognate with the above.

Dear · proper noun³

1. Old English · derived fromdeor“wild animal”
2. English todayDear

English surname, related to the adjective dear and noun deer (from Old English deor (“wild animal”), used in many senses).

Words from the same roots