ear.
The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea.
Meaning & usage
The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna or auricle, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea.
The external part of the organ of hearing, the auricle.
A police informant.
The sense of hearing; the perception of sounds; skill or good taste in listening to music.
a good ear for music
The privilege of being kindly heard; favour; attention.
That which resembles in shape or position the ear of an animal; a prominence or projection on an object, usually for support or attachment; a lug; a handle; a foot-rest or step of a spade or a similar digging tool.
the ears of a tub, skillet, or dish; The ears of a boat are outside kneepieces near the bow.
An acroterium.
A crossette.
A space to the left or right of a publication's front-page title, used for advertising, weather, etc.
A curled ridge in the crust of a loaf of bread where the dough was slashed before going into the oven and expands during baking.
The outer panels or flaps (protrusions) of a diaper upon which the fasteners are located, which are fastened around the wearer's waist.
A path whose endpoints may coincide but in which otherwise there are no repetitions of vertices or edges.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws Proto-Germanic *ausô Proto-West Germanic *auʀā Old English ēare Middle English ere English ear From Middle English eare, eere, ere, eyr, ire, yere, ȝhere, from Old English ēare (“ear”), from Proto-West Germanic *auʀā, from the voiced Verner alternant of Proto-Germanic *ausô (“ear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws (“ear”), from *h₂ew- (“to perceive”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian uaar, uar, uur (“ear”), Saterland Frisian Oor (“ear”), West Frisian ear (“ear”), Alemannic German Oor (“ear”), Central Franconian Uhr (“ear”), Dutch oor (“ear”), German Ohr (“ear”), Low German Ohr, Oor, Or, our, Ur (“ear”), Luxembourgish Ouer (“ear”), Vilamovian ür (“ear”), Yiddish אויער (oyer, “ear”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål øre (“ear”), Elfdalian ära (“ear”), Faroese oyra (“ear”), Icelandic eyra (“ear”), Jamtish ǿre (“ear”), Norwegian Nynorsk øra, øre, øyra, øyre (“ear”), Swedish öra (“ear”), Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍉 (ausō, “ear”); also Old Irish áu, ó (“ear”), Latin auris, ōris (“ear”), Greek αφτί (aftí), αυτί (aftí, “ear”), Albanian vesh (“ear; handle”), Latvian auss (“ear”), Lithuanian ausis (“ear”), Belarusian ву́ха (vúxa, “ear”), Bulgarian ухо́ (uhó, “ear”), Czech, Polish, Silesian, and Slovak ucho (“ear”), Kashubian ùchò (“ear”), Lower Sorbian and Upper Sorbian wucho (“ear”), Macedonian уво (uvo, “ear”), Polabian vaux’ü (“ear”), Russian у́хо (úxo, “ear”), Serbo-Croatian у̏во, у̏хо, ȕho, ȕvo (“ear”), Slovene uho (“ear”), Slovincian wùchô (“ear”), Ukrainian ву́хо (vúxo, “ear”), Armenian ունկ (unk, “ear”), Persian هوش (hōš / huš, “intellect; intelligence; understanding”), Sanskrit उषस् (uṣas, “outer passage of the ear”).
To take in with the ears; to hear.
To hold by the ears.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂ew- Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws Proto-Germanic *ausô Proto-West Germanic *auʀā Old English ēare Middle English ere English ear From Middle English eare, eere, ere, eyr, ire, yere, ȝhere, from Old English ēare (“ear”), from Proto-West Germanic *auʀā, from the voiced Verner alternant of Proto-Germanic *ausô (“ear”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws (“ear”), from *h₂ew- (“to perceive”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian uaar, uar, uur (“ear”), Saterland Frisian Oor (“ear”), West Frisian ear (“ear”), Alemannic German Oor (“ear”), Central Franconian Uhr (“ear”), Dutch oor (“ear”), German Ohr (“ear”), Low German Ohr, Oor, Or, our, Ur (“ear”), Luxembourgish Ouer (“ear”), Vilamovian ür (“ear”), Yiddish אויער (oyer, “ear”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål øre (“ear”), Elfdalian ära (“ear”), Faroese oyra (“ear”), Icelandic eyra (“ear”), Jamtish ǿre (“ear”), Norwegian Nynorsk øra, øre, øyra, øyre (“ear”), Swedish öra (“ear”), Gothic 𐌰𐌿𐍃𐍉 (ausō, “ear”); also Old Irish áu, ó (“ear”), Latin auris, ōris (“ear”), Greek αφτί (aftí), αυτί (aftí, “ear”), Albanian vesh (“ear; handle”), Latvian auss (“ear”), Lithuanian ausis (“ear”), Belarusian ву́ха (vúxa, “ear”), Bulgarian ухо́ (uhó, “ear”), Czech, Polish, Silesian, and Slovak ucho (“ear”), Kashubian ùchò (“ear”), Lower Sorbian and Upper Sorbian wucho (“ear”), Macedonian уво (uvo, “ear”), Polabian vaux’ü (“ear”), Russian у́хо (úxo, “ear”), Serbo-Croatian у̏во, у̏хо, ȕho, ȕvo (“ear”), Slovene uho (“ear”), Slovincian wùchô (“ear”), Ukrainian ву́хо (vúxo, “ear”), Armenian ունկ (unk, “ear”), Persian هوش (hōš / huš, “intellect; intelligence; understanding”), Sanskrit उषस् (uṣas, “outer passage of the ear”).
The fruiting body of a grain plant.
He is in the fields, harvesting ears of corn.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₂éḱos Proto-Germanic *ahaz Proto-West Germanic *ahaʀ Old English ēar Middle English er English ear From Middle English er, ere, from Old English ēar (Northumbrian dialect æhher), from Proto-West Germanic *ahaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *ahaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”). Cognate with Dutch aar, German Ähre, and West Frisian ier; also Latin acus (“needle; husk”), Tocharian B āk (“ear, awn”), and Old Church Slavonic ость (ostĭ, “wheat spike, sharp point”). More at edge.
To put forth ears in growing; to form ears, as grain does.
This corn ears well.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₂éḱos Proto-Germanic *ahaz Proto-West Germanic *ahaʀ Old English ēar Middle English er English ear From Middle English er, ere, from Old English ēar (Northumbrian dialect æhher), from Proto-West Germanic *ahaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *ahaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”). Cognate with Dutch aar, German Ähre, and West Frisian ier; also Latin acus (“needle; husk”), Tocharian B āk (“ear, awn”), and Old Church Slavonic ость (ostĭ, “wheat spike, sharp point”). More at edge.
To plough.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English eren, from Old English erian, from Proto-West Germanic *arjan, from Proto-Germanic *arjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erh₃- (“to plough”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.