beer

From Dutch beer, from Proto-Germanic *berô.


beer

From Dutch beer, from Proto-West Germanic *bair.


beer

De beer drinkt bier.

a bear, any member of the family Ursidae

Wat een beer van een vent daar voorin, he?

What a bear of a guy there in front, huh?

(figurative) a person who is physically impressive and/or crude

nl-noun

beer m (plural beren, diminutive beertje n)

beren (plural)
beertje (diminutive neuter)

Afrikaans: beer

→ Papiamentu: ber, beer

From Middle Dutch bēre, from Old Dutch *bero, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô.


beer

De kinderboerderij heeft een aantal zeugen en maar één beer.

The petting zoo has a number of sows and only one boar.

buttress; protective external construction, notably against ice or supporting the weight of the main building

Afrikaans: beer

From Middle Dutch bêer, from Old Dutch *bēr, from Proto-West Germanic *bair.


beer

Wie doet er nu beer in zijn bier? Ik haat beer!

Who in the world would put liquid manure in his beer? I hate manure!

(now dialectal) liquid, notably human manure (excrement gathered in a pit to fertilize)

From Middle Dutch bere, from Old Dutch [Term?], from a derivative of Proto-West Germanic *bermō (“yeast”), related to Old English beorma, Albanian burmë.


beer

Door haar gokverslaving zat ze met een enorme beer opgescheept.

Due to her gambling addiction she was saddled with an enormous debt.

Henry zag niet zijn beren op de weg, maar wel bij hem op de stoep.

Henry didn't see his creditors on the road, but he did see them on his doorstep.

(university slang) creditor (one to whom one owes debt)

Borrowed from German Bär. Cognate to etymology 1.


beer

Beer is brewed all over the world.

“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like
 Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”

1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

(uncountable) An alcoholic drink fermented from starch material, commonly barley malt; often with hops or some other substance (like gruit) to impart a bitter flavor.

(uncountable) A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.

(uncountable) A solution produced by steeping plant materials in water or another fluid.

I bought a few beers from the shop for the party.

Can I buy you a beer?

I'd like two beers and a glass of white wine.

(countable) A glass, bottle, or can of any of the above beverages.

Pilsner is one of the most commonly served beers in Europe.

I haven't tried this beer before.

(countable) A variety of the above beverages.

en-noun

beer (countable and uncountable, plural beers)

Tok Pisin: bia

→ Alabama: biya

→ Bengali: বিয়ার (biẏar)

→ Burmese: ဘီယာ (bhiya)

⇒ Chinese: 啤酒 (píjiǔ)

→ Hausa: biya

→ Hawaiian: bia

→ Hindi: बियर (biyar)

→ Khmer: បៀរ (biə)

→ Maori: pia

→ Swahili: bia

→ Tagalog: bir

→ Telugu: బీరు (bīru)

→ Thai: เบียร์ (biia)

→ Zulu: ubhiya

birrë

A Dictionary of the English Language
Oxford English Dictionary
Samuel Johnson
beer

From Middle English 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 *bʰeusóm), meaning “brewer's yeast”.
However, also see the "beer" entry on OED (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, West Frisian bier, German Low German Beer, Dutch bier, German Bier, Icelandic bjór (“beer”).


beer

No doubt he then can feed us, wine us, beer us, And cook us something that can warm and cheer us.

1870, Sidney Daryl, His First Brief. A Comedietta in Clement Scott, Drawing-room Plays and Parlour Pantomimes, Robson and Sons, pages 303–304

“Beer me!” said Goody. “Also your weed is shit. Where’s the good stuff, dude?”

2010, Steve Brezenhoff, The Absolute Value of -1, Carolrhoda Lab, page 121:

I heard Patty Marsh yelling, ‘Beer him, Eleanor!’

2013, Janet E. Cameron, Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World, Hatchette Books Ireland, page 124:

“Beer me!” To his astonishment she obeyed his command, appearing a minute later with a glass of beer and a wry smile.

(informal, transitive) To give beer to (someone).

In Japan, students on a Friday night announce “Let's beer!”

2008, Charles Foran, Join the Revolution, Comrade: Journeys and Essays, page 83:

en-verb

beer (third-person singular simple present beers, present participle beering, simple past and past participle beered)

beers (present singular third-person)
beering (participle present)
beered (participle past)
beered (past)


beer

That meant, among other things, that he was going to be a fast-moving doer. And even when he was three or four, it wasn't hard for me to know that this wasn't going to be easy. Because Albert was a beer. Born that way.

1990, Budge Wilson, “Be-ers and Doers”, in The leaving, and other stories:

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


beer

first-person singular present passive subjunctive of beō


beer

From Middle Low German bêr, from Old Saxon bior, from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą.


beer

From Middle Dutch bere, from Old Dutch bēro, from Proto-West Germanic *bair.


beer

From Middle High German ber, from Old High German beri. Alternatively from Middle Dutch bere, from Old Dutch *beri. Both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *baʀi, from Proto-Germanic *bazją, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂-.


beer

Dutch: beer

West Flemish: beir

From Old Dutch *bēr, from Proto-West Germanic *bair.


beer

beer (infinitive)
avoir beé (infinitive multiword-construction)
en beant (gerund)
gerund of avoir + past participle (gerund multiword-construction)
beant (participle present)
beé (participle past)
be (first-person indicative present singular)
bees (indicative present second-person singular)
bee (indicative present singular third-person)
beons (first-person indicative plural present)
beez (indicative plural present second-person)
beent (indicative plural present third-person)
beoie (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
beeie (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
beoe (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
beeve (first-person imperfect indicative singular)
beoies (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
beeies (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
beoes (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
beeves (imperfect indicative second-person singular)
beoit (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
beeit (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
beot (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
beeve (imperfect indicative singular third-person)
beïiens (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
beïens (first-person imperfect indicative plural)
beïiez (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
beïez (imperfect indicative plural second-person)
beoient (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
beeient (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
beoent (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
beevent (imperfect indicative plural third-person)
beai (first-person indicative preterite singular)
beas (indicative preterite second-person singular)
bea (indicative preterite singular third-person)
beames (first-person indicative plural preterite)
beastes (indicative plural preterite second-person)
beerent (indicative plural preterite third-person)
beerai (first-person future indicative singular)
beeras (future indicative second-person singular)
beera (future indicative singular third-person)
beerons (first-person future indicative plural)
beeroiz (future indicative plural second-person)
beereiz (future indicative plural second-person)
beerez (future indicative plural second-person)
beeront (future indicative plural third-person)
beeroie (conditional first-person singular)
beereie (conditional first-person singular)
beeroies (conditional second-person singular)
beereies (conditional second-person singular)
beeroit (conditional singular third-person)
beereit (conditional singular third-person)
beeriiens (conditional first-person plural)
beeriens (conditional first-person plural)
beeriiez (conditional plural second-person)
beeriez (conditional plural second-person)
beeroient (conditional plural third-person)
beereient (conditional plural third-person)
future tense of avoir + past participle (future indicative multiword-construction perfect)
be (first-person present singular subjunctive)
bez (present second-person singular subjunctive)
bet (present singular subjunctive third-person)
beons (first-person plural present subjunctive)
beez (plural present second-person subjunctive)
beent (plural present subjunctive third-person)
beasse (first-person imperfect singular subjunctive)
beasses (imperfect second-person singular subjunctive)
beast (imperfect singular subjunctive third-person)
beïssons (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
beïssiens (first-person imperfect plural subjunctive)
beïssoiz (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
beïssez (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
beïssiez (imperfect plural second-person subjunctive)
beassent (imperfect plural subjunctive third-person)
bee (imperative second-person singular)
beons (first-person imperative plural)
beez (imperative plural second-person)

Middle French: beer

French: bayer

Norman: béguer

Picard: beyer

Walloon: bawî

Inherited from Early Medieval Latin badāre.


beer

From Proto-Cushitic *baar-, from Proto-Afroasiatic *bur-. Cognates include Afar baaxo, Saho baarho, Arabic بَرّ (barr), Hebrew בַּר (bar), and Sabaean 𐩨𐩧 (br).