Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • The termination of many English words, denoting the agent; -- applied either to men or things; as in hater, farmer, heater, grater. At the end of names of places, -er signifies a man of the place.
  • A suffix used to form the comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • suffix added to a proper noun Suffix denoting a resident or inhabitant of (the place denoted by the proper noun); used to form a demonym.
  • suffix Suffix denoting residency in or around a district, area, or region.
  • suffix person or thing connected with
  • suffix no longer productive Suffix used to form the plural of a small number of English nouns.
  • suffix added to verbs person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun.
  • suffix added to a noun denoting an occupation Person whose occupation is (the noun).
  • suffix A name for a person or thing that is based on a number (with or without a noun).
  • suffix slang Used to form nouns shorter than more formal synonyms.
  • suffix informal One who enjoys.
  • suffix derogatory Person who subscribes to a particular conspiracy theory or unorthodox belief.
  • suffix more; used to form the comparative.
  • suffix more; used to form the comparative.
  • suffix added to a verb or imitative sound frequently; used to form frequentative verbs.
  • suffix added to a verb instance of (the verbal action); used to form nouns from verbs, especially in legal terms.
  • suffix Used to form slang or colloquial equivalents of words.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English -er, -ere, from Old English -ware (suffix denoting residency or meaning "inhabitant of"), from Proto-Germanic *warjaz (“defender, inhabitant”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover, protect, save, defend”). Cognate with Dutch -er, German -er, Swedish -are.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Representing various noun-suffixes in Old French and Anglo-Norman, variously -er, -ier and -ieur, from Latin -aris, -arius, -atorium.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English -er, -re, 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.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English -er, -ere, from Old English -ere (agent suffix), from Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz (agent suffix). Usually thought to have been borrowed from Latin -ārius. Cognate with Dutch -er, Low German -er, German -er, Swedish -are, Icelandic -ari, Gothic  (-areis). Compare also Ancient Greek -ήριος (-ḗrios), Old Church Slavonic  (-arì).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English -ra, from Proto-Germanic *-izô or Proto-Germanic *-ōzô (a derivative of Etymology 5, below).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old English -or, from Proto-Germanic *-ōz.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English -eren, -ren, -rien, from Old English -erian, -rian, from Proto-Germanic *-rōnan. Cognate with West Frisian -erje, Dutch -eren, German -eren, -ern, Danish -re, Swedish -ra.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Representing Anglo-Norman -er, the infinitive verbal ending.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Originally Rugby School slang.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word -er.

Examples

  • For the last week or so, the 1%-owned media have been doing everything possible to give their fellow 1%-er and good friend Mayor Bloomberg the political cover necessary to seize Zuccotti Park.

    Danny Schechter: Mic Check: You Say You Wanna Revolution Danny Schechter 2011

  • On the Top Chef: All-Stars finale, eventual champ Richard Blais dispatches sous chef and the show's "craftiest motherf---er" Spike Mendelsohn to retrieve intel on the judges' thoughts of his dishes.

    Top Moments: Dancing's Lip-Lock, Grey's Musical Medicine and a Top Chef Spy 2011

  • For the last week or so, the 1%-owned media have been doing everything possible to give their fellow 1%-er and good friend Mayor Bloomberg the political cover necessary to seize Zuccotti Park.

    Danny Schechter: Mic Check: You Say You Wanna Revolution Danny Schechter 2011

  • "I hate to admit it but the 1%-er really got me," Mr. Arad went on, referring to Great Performance's low-calorie latke.

    Lining Up for Latkes Ralph Gardner Jr. 2011

  • The columnist joked he often uses an acronym he created, "DTMFA," which stands for "Dump The M----r F---er Already," when responding to his fans' questions.

    ABC News: Top Stories 2011

  • The rest of them are a somehow less creative form of hockey nicknames, which are generally just variants of the person's last name ending in -s, -ie -y or -er.

    chron.com Chronicle 2011

  • Annie Yactor, London, 28/07/2011 01:22 "Will the 10,000 dupes -er, I mean, artists, please report for rehearsals on..."

    Evening Standard - Home Rob Parsons 2011

  • Where is wind-bag Madi-Goon spokesman Steve Brown with a lie, -er, comment?

    News - chicagotribune.com 2011

  • That's how US politics really work, and things are not going to change until we've buried the last "What's-in-it-for-me"-er.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2011

  • That's how US politics really work, and things are not going to change until we've buried the last "What's-in-it-for-me"-er.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.