teer - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (2024)

English[edit]

Verb[edit]

teer (third-person singular simple present teers, present participle teering, simple past and past participle teered)

1. (transitive) To stir, as a calico-printer's sieve.

Anagrams[edit]

• TREE, Tree, reet, rete, tree

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /teːr/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eːr

Etymology 1[edit]

Noun[edit]

teerm or n (uncountable)

1. tar

Derived terms[edit]

-general:

-types of tar:

Descendants[edit]

• Berbice Creole Dutch: tere
• Negerhollands: taer
• → Caribbean Javanese: tir
• → Indonesian: ter

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle Dutch têer, alternative form of têder, têeder (whence modern Dutch teder), from Old Dutch *tidar, from Proto-Germanic *tidaraz; cognate to Middle English teere.

Noun[edit]

teerm (uncountable)

1. tenderness

Adjective[edit]

teer (comparative teerder, superlative teerst)

1. tender, delicate

Inflection[edit]

Descendants[edit]

• Negerhollands: teer, teeri

Etymology 3[edit]

Verb[edit]

teer

1. inflection of teren:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

Etymology 4[edit]

Over time, teer was also used to refer to tuberculosis, analogously to English consumption.

Noun[edit]

teerm (uncountable)

1. the act of digesting or being consumed
2. tuberculosis

Etymology 5[edit]

From Middle Dutch tree, from Old Dutch *trio, *treo, from Proto-West Germanic *treu, from Proto-Germanic *trewą (“tree, wood”), from pre-Germanic *dréwom, thematic e-grade derivative of Proto-Indo-European *dóru (“tree”). Cognate with English tree, Danish træ.

Noun[edit]

teerm (plural teren, diminutive teertjen)

1. tree

Related terms[edit]

• appelteer, elzenteer

Anagrams[edit]

• eert, eter, reet, tere, tree

German[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• Audio

  (file)

Verb[edit]

teer

1. singular imperative of teeren
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of teeren

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Inherited from Old English tēar, tǣr, tæhher, teagor, from Proto-West Germanic *tah(h)r, from Proto-Germanic *tahrą.

Alternative forms[edit]

• teere, ter, tere
• tær, tear (early)
• tyer, tyear, tyar (Kent)

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /tɛːr/

Noun[edit]

teer (plural teres or teren)

1. A tear (drop of liquid from the eyes):
   1. A tear as a symptom of disease or injury.
   2. An emotionally-triggered tear (e.g. ecstasy, remorse, sadness, sympathy)
2. A drop of liquid resembling a teardrop.
3. (figuratively) The feeling of teariness or distress.

Usage notes[edit]

This noun usually appears in the plural, which is usually teres; teren is early and rare.

Related terms[edit]

• teren
• tery

Descendants[edit]

• English: tear
• Middle Scots: tear, tere, teir, tichwr, tychir
  • Scots: tear, taer, tare, teir

References[edit]

• “tēr(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-25.

Etymology 2[edit]

Borrowed from Middle Dutch têer, alternative form of têder, têeder (whence modern Dutch teder), from Old Dutch *tidar, from Proto-Germanic *tidaraz.

Alternative forms[edit]

• teere, ter, tere

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /tɛːr/

Adjective[edit]

teer

1. Of good quality or manners.

Descendants[edit]

• English: tear, tare (“good flax”) (obsolete)

References[edit]

• “tēr, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-25.

Etymology 3[edit]

Noun[edit]

teer

1. Alternative form of ter (“tar”)

Etymology 4[edit]

Verb[edit]

teer

1. Alternative form of teren (“to ruin by removing or splitting”)

Swedish[edit]

Noun[edit]

teer

1. indefinite plural of te

Anagrams[edit]

• eter