peer.
To look with difficulty, or as if searching for something.
Meaning & usage
To look with difficulty, or as if searching for something.
To come in sight; to appear.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *pūrijan Old English *pȳran Middle English peren English peer 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.
A look; a glance.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *pūrijan Old English *pȳran Middle English peren English peer 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.
Somebody who is, or something that is, at a level or of a value equal (to that of something else).
Someone who is approximately the same age (as someone else).
A noble with a title, i.e., a peerage, and in times past, with certain rights and privileges not enjoyed by commoners.
a peer of the realm
A comrade; a companion; an associate.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English per, pere, from Anglo-Norman peir, Old French per, from Latin pār. Doublet of pair and par.
To make equal in rank.
To carry communications traffic terminating on one's own network on an equivalency basis to and from another network, usually without charge or payment. Contrast with transit where one pays another network provider to carry one's traffic.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English per, pere, from Anglo-Norman peir, Old French per, from Latin pār. Doublet of pair and par.
Someone who pees, someone who urinates.
Where this word comes from
pee + -er
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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.