Etymology

peer

P3E1E1R1

Today it means: To look with difficulty, or as if searching for something. Full definition →

Middle English peren ← Old English *pȳran ← Proto-West Germanic *pūrijan
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peer · verb, noun1

  1. Proto-West Germanic*pūrijan
  2. Old English*pȳran
  3. Middle Englishperen
  4. English todaypeer

From Middle English peren, pyren, piren (“to peer, gaze”), perhaps from Old English *pȳran (“to look, peer”), from Proto-West Germanic *pūrijan (“to look”), related to Saterland Frisian pierje (“to look”), Dutch Low Saxon piren (“to look”), West Flemish pieren (“to look with narrowed eyes, squint at”), Dutch pieren (“to look closely at, examine”), Middle English pouren (“to gaze, look closely”), English pore (“to study meticulously”). Compare also West Frisian pluere (“to peer”), Dutch pluren (“to gaze squintingly”), German Low German plieren (“to blink”), Danish plire (“to peer”), Swedish plira, blira (“to peer”), and thence ultimately related to the root of English blear. The sense meaning "to be visible" is perhaps from a shortening of appear.

peer · noun, verb2

  1. Latin · derived frompār
  2. Old French · derived fromper
  3. Anglo-Norman · derived frompeir
  4. Middle English · inherited fromper
  5. English todaypeer

From Middle English per, pere, from Anglo-Norman peir, Old French per, from Latin pār. Doublet of pair and par.

peer · noun3

pee + -er

Words from the same roots

Latinpār all →

parparityumpirenonpareildouzeperherb parispari-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.