er

See also: Appendix:Variations of "er"

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Page categories

English

Alternative forms

err

Pronunciation

enPR: ûr, IPA^(key): /ɜː/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
(US) IPA^(key): /ɜɹ/
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
Used in non-rhotic dialects. Compare uh.

Etymology 1

Mimetic (sound of hesitation).

Interjection

er

(informal) Said when hesitating in speech.
Synonyms: ah, eh, erm, uh, um
- 1970, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 11:
  “Er...Feathered Omen, hoot not,” he continued uneasily, “Son of Tanit, hoot not!”
- 2007 August 24, William Grimes, “Uh, Lead My Rips: No More Bloopers”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 4 January 2013:
  As the years go by, speech reverts to childhood levels of disfluency, with more pauses, more errors, more repeated words, but even the peak years are not great: up to 8 percent of the average person’s word output consists of meaningless fillers and placeholders like um, uh and er.
- 2012, Linda Miller, Desire and Destiny:
  If he—er—disappears—well, it seems to me that we'd both benefit.
- 2019 December 10, Yacht Club Games, "Story" (Mona), in Shovel Knight Showdown (version 4.1), Nintendo Switch:
  Liquid Samurai: 'FORMLESS AND INFINITE ARE WE, THE LIQUID SAMURAI. I SERVE MY QUEEN, AS WE HAVE FOR COUNTLESS--' / Mona: 'HEY, I DON'T MEAN TO INTERRUPT, BUT YOU SEEM LIKE YOU'RE MADE OF POWERFUL STUFF. CAN I, ER, STUDY YOU?'

Translations

hesitating in speech

Esperanto: nu (eo)
Russian: эм (ru) (em)

Verb

er (third-person singular simple present ers, present participle erring, simple past and past participle erred)

(informal, transitive, intransitive) To utter the word er when hesitating in speech.
Synonyms: ah, eh, um; hem and haw

um and er

He ummed and erred his way through the presentation.

Noun

er (plural ers)

An occurrence of the interjection "er".
- 2007 August 24, William Grimes, “Uh, Lead My Rips: No More Bloopers”, in The New York Times‎^[2], archived from the original on 4 January 2013:
  Although Shakespeare refers to “hums and ha’s,” sifting through etiquette manuals and public-speaking guides turns up scant evidence of a prohibition against ums, ers and uhs, which are profuse in the first recording of Thomas Edison’s voice, in 1888. Mr. Erard, rather ingeniously, traces the prohibition on um and other speech flaws to the advent of radio in the early 1920s.

Etymology 2

Noun

er (plural ers)

The name of the Cyrillic script letter Р / р.

Anagrams

're, RE, Re, Ré, r.e., re, re-

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /æːr/
Audio: (file)

Noun

er (plural erre or ers, diminutive erretjie)

The name of the Latin script letter R/r.

Alemannic German

Etymology

From Middle High German ër, from Old High German ër, from Proto-Germanic *iz. Cognate with German er.

Pronoun

er m

(personal) he; it

Declension

Alemannic German personal pronouns
			nominative	accusative	dative	possessive m
singular	1st person		ich, i	mich, mi	mir, mier, mer	min, miin
	2nd person	familiar	du	dich, di	dir, dier, der	din, diin
	2nd person	polite	Si		Ine, Ene, -ne	Ire
	3rd person	m	er	in, en	im	sin, siin
		f	si		ire
		n	es, 's, -s		im	sin, siin
plural	1st person		mir, mer	üs, öis, ois, eus		üse, öise, oise, euse
	2nd person		ir, ier	öi, eu		öie, eure
	3rd person		si		ine, ene, -ne	ire

Bavarian

Alternative forms

ea (phonetic spelling)
a (unstressed form)

Etymology

From Middle High German ër, from Old High German ër (“he”). Cognate with German er.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /eɐ̯/

Pronoun

er

he

Breton

Contraction

er

contraction of e +‎ ur, literally “in a(n)”
contraction of e +‎ ar, literally “in the”

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

èar (Sette Comuni)

Etymology

From Middle High German ër, from Old High German ër, from Proto-West Germanic *iʀ (“he, it”), from Proto-Germanic *iz (“he, she, it, they”). Cognate with German er.

Pronoun

er

(Luserna) he, it

Inflection

Personal pronouns (Luserna)
	singular	plural
1st person	i	biar
2nd person	du	iar
3rd person	er, si, 'z	se

References

“er” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Cornish

Etymology 1

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“in front”). See Welsh er.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɛr]

Preposition

er

for, by, on account of

Derived terms

erbynn (“by, against”)
er kov (“in memory of”)
mos er y bynn (“address”)

Etymology 2

From Old Cornish er, from Proto-Celtic *eriros (“eagle”) (compare Breton erer, Welsh eryr, Old Irish irar), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃érō (“large bird”).

Pronunciation

(Revived Middle Cornish) IPA^(key): [ɛːr]
(Revived Late Cornish) IPA^(key): [eːr]

Noun

er m (plural eryon or eres)

eagle

Alternative forms

her

Etymology 3

From Middle Cornish er, borrowed from Middle English eir, from Anglo-Norman heir, from Latin hērēs.

Noun

er m (plural erys)

heir

Etymology 4

er

Click on labels in the image

korf

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “related to arlais? not in GM”)

Noun

er m (dual dewer, plural eryow)

(anatomy) temple

Etymology 5

From Proto-Celtic *sagro-. Cognate with Welsh haer.

Noun

er m

challenge, defiance, stubbornness, insistence, heresy

Etymology 6

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

er

soft mutation of ger

References

“er” in Cornish Dictionary / Gerlyver Kernewek, Akademi Kernewek.

Crimean Tatar

Adjective

er

every

Czech

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈɛr]

Noun

er n (indeclinable)

The name of the Latin script letter R/r.

Danish

Etymology

From Old Danish ær, Proto-Germanic *izum, *izud, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- (“to be”). The infinitive of the verb (være) is from a different PIE root; the present tense is suppletive.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛr/, [ɛɐ̯], [ɛɒ̯̽], but often elided in spontaneous speech.

Verb

er

present of være

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛr/, /ər/, /dər/
Audio: (file)

Etymology 1

Weak form of der, the unstressed form of daar ("there")

Adverb

er

there (can refer to any place, used when not emphasizing the distance to the speaker, see usage notes)
(dummy pronoun) there (used in more constructions than in English, often not translated)
Er is een communicatiefout opgetreden.
A communication error has occurred.

Wat is er gebeurd?
What happened?
- 2025 December 15, InEenEmmer, r/katten‎^[3] (Reddit post):
  Er is een kat bij mij in de buurt die elke dag naar de supermarkt gaat om wat aandacht en lekkers te krijgen van de klanten.
  There is a cat in my area that goes to the supermarket every day to get some attention and treats from the customers.
  (Can we archive this URL?)
- 2026 April 15, Own_Sandwich6610, r/thenetherlands‎^[4] (Reddit post):
  Gisteren die arme man in brand, nu dit. Er wordt elkaar zulke nare dingen aan gedaan, ik word er echt heel verdrietig van. Levens worden gewoon verwoest. Vreselijk
  Yesterday that poor man on fire, now this. People are doing such horrible things to each other (literally: "Such horrible things are being done to each other"), it really makes me very sad. Lives are just being destroyed. Terrible.
  (Can we archive this URL?)
pronominal adverb form of het: it; him, her, them
Ik heb ermee gewerkt.
I have worked with it/them.

Je kunt er de bergen boven zien.
You can see the mountains above it/them.

Usage notes

Er is an unstressed variety of hier and daar, used when it is not needed to emphasize the specific location relative to the speaker.
With a preposition, er is used instead of hem, haar, het, ze to create a pronominal adverb. See also Category:Dutch pronominal adverbs. Compare German da.
As a dummy pronoun, er is used similarly to German es (es gibt, es ist, es wird)

Descendants

Petjo: d'r

Etymology 2

From Old Dutch iro, genitive of the personal pronoun (3rd person plural).

Adverb

er

(partitive pronoun) of them, of those (often not translated in English)
Mijn broer heeft drie kinderen en ik heb er twee.
My brother has three children and I have two. (literally: two of those)

Ik zie er geen meer.
I don't see any more (of them).

Synonyms

ervan

Derived terms

See Category:Dutch pronominal adverbs

Related terms

Anagrams

re

Faroese

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /eːɹ/

Verb

er

third-person singular indicative present of vera
Hann er skipari.
He is a captain/skipper.

Hon er úr Føroyum.
She is from the Faroe Islands.

Tað er í ordan.
It's all right.

Gagauz

Cyrillic		ер

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /jeɾ/

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish یر (yẹr), Proto-Turkic *yẹr. Compare Turkish and Azerbaijani yer.

Alternative forms

yer (dated, pronunciation spelling)
Er

Noun

er (definite accusative eri, plural erlär)

the ground
erä düşmää ― to fall to the ground

erdän bulduunu idi ― he ate what he took from the ground
soil, country, land
Gagauz Eri ― Gagauz Land
earth
(astronomy, sometimes capitalized) the Earth
Synonyms: toprak, dünnää
place, location
(politics) rank, statue

Declension

Declension of er
	singular (tekil)	plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın)	er	erlär
definite accusative (belirtme)	eri	erleri
dative (yönelme)	erä	erlerä
locative (bulunma)	erdä	erlerdä
ablative (çıkma)	erdän	erlerdän
genitive (tamlayan)	erin	erlerin

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish ایر (eyer), from Proto-Turkic *ēder. Compare Turkish eyer.

Alternative forms

eer

Noun

er (definite accusative eri, plural erlär)

saddle
Synonym: semer

Declension

Declension of er
	singular (tekil)	plural (çoğul)
nominative (yalın)	er	erlär
definite accusative (belirtme)	eri	erleri
dative (yönelme)	erä	erlerä
locative (bulunma)	erdä	erlerdä
ablative (çıkma)	erdän	erlerdän
genitive (tamlayan)	erin	erlerin

Derived terms

German

Etymology

From Middle High German ër, from Old High German ër, from Proto-West Germanic *iʀ, from Proto-Germanic *iz. In northern Middle High German and Old High German there also existed forms with initial h-, namely Middle High German hër, Old High German hër, from Proto-Germanic *hiz, whence Central Franconian hä and (from the accusative) Luxembourgish hien. Compare English he. The unusual spelling ih- in the forms ihm, ihn is not related to this. It was introduced in early modern German to distinguish these forms from im, in (when *iem, *ien could have been read as *jem, *jen).

Pronunciation

(standard) IPA^(key): /eːr/, [ʔeːɐ̯], [ʔɛɐ̯]

Audio: (file)
Audio (Germany (Berlin)): (file)
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -eːɐ̯
Homophone: Ehr

(colloquially in unstressed position) IPA^(key): /ɐ/

Pronoun

er

(personal) he
Wo ist Klaus? Wo ist er? ― Where is Klaus? Where is he?

Dies ist mein Hund. Er heißt Waldi. ― This is my dog. His name is Waldi.
(personal) it (when the grammatical gender of the object/article/thing/animal etc., being referred to, is masculine (der))
Dort steht ein Baum. Er ist über hundert Jahre alt. ― There stands a tree. It is more than 100 years old.
(personal) she (when the grammatical gender of the noun being referred to and designating a female person, is masculine (der))
Im Frauengefängnis versuchte ein Häftling zu flüchten, aber er kam nicht weit. ― In the women’s prison, an inmate tried to escape, but she didn’t get very far.
(colloquial) Used in reference to a computer or other machine when personifying it; it
Ich habe die Route gerade ins Navi eingegeben, und jetzt sagt er, die Autobahn wäre gesperrt.
I just put the route into the GPS, and now it says that the highway is closed.
(personal, archaic) alternative spelling of Er (you (polite))
- (Can we date this quote?), Clemens Brentano, Geschichte vom braven Kasperl und dem schönen Annerl (edited). In: 1835, F. W. Gubitz (editor), Jahrbuch des Nützlichen und Unterhaltenden für 1835, p. 171:
  Da fuhr die Alte überraſcht auf und ſprach: Lieber Herr, gehe er doch nach Haus und bete er fein und lege er ſich ſchlafen.
  Then the old woman sprang up, surprised, and said: Dear gentleman, do go home and say your prayers and go to bed.
- 1837, Brothers Grimm, “Der junge Riese”, in Kinder- und Haus-Märchen, Band 2‎^[5], page 27:
  Da sprach er „Vater, ich sehe wohl, bei ihm werd ich nicht satt, will er mir einen Stab von Eisen verschaffen, der stark ist, und den ich vor meinen Knien nicht zerbrechen kann, so will ich wieder fort gehen.“ Da war der Bauer froh, und spannte seine zwei Pferde vor den Wagen, fuhr zum Schmied, und holte einen Stab so groß und dick, als ihn die zwei Pferde nur fahren konnten.
  Then he said: "Father, I can see that I shall not be able to eat my fill here. If you bring me a strong rod of iron that I cannot break, I shall go away again." Then the farmer was glad, and he harnessed his horses to the wagon, drove to the smithy, and fetched a rod so long and thick that his two horses could barely pull it.

Declension

German personal pronouns
	singular					plural			sing. and pl.
	1st person	2nd person familiar¹	3rd person			1st person	2nd person familiar¹	3rd person	2nd person polite/formal
	1st person	2nd person familiar¹	m	f	n	1st person	2nd person familiar¹	3rd person	2nd person polite/formal
nominative	ich	du -e²	er	sie -se²	es	wir	ihr	sie -se²	Sie Ihr³
genitive	meiner mein³	deiner dein³	seiner sein³	ihrer	seiner sein³	unser	euer	ihrer	Ihrer Euer³
dative	mir	dir	ihm	ihr	ihm	uns	euch	ihnen	Ihnen Euch³
accusative	mich	dich	ihn	sie -se²	es	uns	euch	sie -se²	Sie Euch³

¹These forms are sometimes capitalized, especially in letters. ²enclitic, colloquial ³archaic

In contemporary German, the genitive forms of personal pronouns are restricted to formal style and are infrequent even then. They may be used:
- for the genitive object still found in a handful of verbs: Ich erbarmte mich seiner. – "I had mercy on him". (Colloquially one would either use the dative case, or a prepositional object, or replace the verb with another.)
- with certain adjectives or prepositions that govern the genitive, such as statt ("instead of, in place of"): Ich kam statt seiner in die Mannschaft. – I joined the team in his place. (This sounds antiquated, for which reason an seiner Statt or an seiner Stelle is preferable.)
Older forms/spellings include:
- jm (dative; 16th century), jn (accusative; 16th century) – distinguished from im (“in the, into the”) and in (“in, into”)
- ihme (dative)

Derived terms

hatter (hat er; colloquial)

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

ëyer (Wiesemann spelling system)

Etymology

From Old High German er, from Proto-Germanic *iz. Displaced the northern Old High German forms with h-, e.g. hē, her (see he).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɛɐ/

Pronoun

er

he

Inflection

Hunsrik personal pronouns
			nominative		accusative		dative
			proclitic	enclitic	stressed	unstressed	stressed	unstressed
singular	1st person		ich eich	-ich	mich meich		meer	mer m'r
	2nd person (informal)		du dau/Dau	-du, -de -Dau, -De	dich deich/Deich		deer	der d'r/D'r
	3rd person	m	er; där	-er	ihn	en	ihm	em
		f	sie; die	-se	sie / ihns	se	eer ehr	re
		n	es; das et, 't	's	es et	-et, -'t	ihm	em
plural	1st person		meer	mer	uns uhs
	2nd person		deer Ehr, Dehr	der	eich Auch
	3rd person		sie; die	-se	sie	se	denne

Iberian

Etymology

Might be related to Basque era (“way, manner”)

Noun

er

manner, way

References

Villamor, Fernando (2020) A basic dictionary and grammar of the Iberian language

Icelandic

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛːr/
Audio: (file)

Etymology 1

From Old Norse er (“is”, 3rd person singular), analogical leveling of earlier es, from Proto-Germanic *isti, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti.

Use with the 1st person singular is also by analogy with other forms in er-; the Old Norse 1st person singular form was em.

Verb

er

first-person singular indicative present of vera
Ég er skemmtilegur.
I am fun (masculine)

Hver er ég?
Who am I?
third-person singular indicative present of vera
Veit einhver hvar pabbi minn er?
Does anybody know where my dad is?

Hver er hann?
Who is he?

Etymology 2

From Old Norse er, from Proto-Germanic *iz (“he”), from Proto-Indo-European *ís (“he, that”).

Pronoun

er

(relative) which
Maður er sá, er Jón heitir.
There is a man who is named John.

Konan, er hann var að tala við.
The woman to whom he was talking.

Þetta er borgin, er hann kom frá.
This is the city from which he originated.

Bærinn, er hún ætlar til.
The town to which she's heading.
(archaic) in relations with a demonstrative pronoun (this, that, these) or personal pronoun (I, we, they), which represents the genitive of a relative pronoun
Það er sú bók, er menn þekkja eigi höfund hennar.
There is a book whose author people don't know.

Conjunction

er

(with an "indexical"; ábendingarorð) of a place, of a time
- Judges 2:19
  En er dómarinn andaðist, breyttu þeir að nýju verr en feður þeirra, með því að elta aðra guði til þess að þjóna þeim og falla fram fyrir þeim. Þeir létu eigi af gjörðum sínum né þrjóskubreytni sinni.
  But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.
Þar er ég kom.
There whence I came.

Þá er myndin var búin.
When the movie was finished.

Derived terms

þá er þegar

References

Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “er”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch er.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛr/, [ɛr]

Noun

èr (plural er-er)

The name of the Latin script letter R/r.

Synonyms

ar (Standard Malay)

Italian

Article

er m sg

(Romanesco, Tuscan) dialectal form of el, whence modern il

Usage notes

In modern times, the initial e- survives mostly only when the article precedes a word beginning with r- (or more rarely even when the previous word ends in a consonant), such as in e’ resto (“the change”) where a hypothetical **rresto (“change”) would be unacceptable because of its homophony with resto since geminated r’s don't exist in Roman; this is also reflected in the writing where the e- is omitted, as in r cane (“the dog”) If preceding a word starting with l-, the form el—either due to assimilation or lack of rhotacism and subsequent retention of the original-l—might still be used; indeed, forms such as "el letto" and "el lavoro" are rather more common than their rhotacized counterparts.

Jamtish

Verb

er

present indicative of vara

Japanese

Japanese Wikipedia has an article on:

インチキ外国語

Wikipedia ^ja

Alternative forms

ler(ラー) (-rā)

Etymology

From English -er, forming novel pseudo-Anglicisms.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [a̠ː]

Suffix

er(アー) • (-ā)

(slang) Suffix used for people, especially fans.

Derived terms

Japanese terms suffixed with ler

Related terms

ist(イスト) (-isuto)

Kembra

Noun

er

water

Latin

Alternative forms

*hēr (unattested, but likely, as aspiration is attested in derived forms such as hērīcius and hērīnāceus, while the base form is attested only a couple of times)

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *hēr, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰḗr (“hedgehog”) (whence also Ancient Greek χήρ (khḗr, “hedgehog”)), a root noun from *ǵʰer- (“to be excited, be bristly”), whence also Ancient Greek χοῖρος (khoîros, “young pig”) and Albanian derr (“pig”) from *ǵʰór-yos.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈeːr]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɛr]

Noun

ēr m (genitive ēris); third declension

hedgehog

Usage notes

There is some uncertainty as to the exact forms of this word, especially regarding whether the lemma form of this was ēr or ēris, as the forms attested in literature could point to either option. Another form, irim (acc. sing.; found in Plautus, Capt. 184), seems to be a spelling variant.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	ēr	ērēs
genitive	ēris	ērum
dative	ērī	ēribus
accusative	ērem	ērēs
ablative	ēre	ēribus
vocative	ēr	ērēs

Related terms

ērīcius (“hedgehog; picket”)

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɛr]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɛr]

Noun

er f (indeclinable)

The name of the letter R.

Usage notes

Multiple Latin names for the letter R, r have been suggested. The most common is er or a syllabic r, although there is some evidence which also supports, as names for the letter, rē, rrr, ər, rə, and even (in the fourth- or fifth-century first Antinoë papyrus, which gives Greek transliterations of the Latin names of the Roman alphabet’s letters) ιρρε (irrhe).

Coordinate terms

(Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta

Descendants

>? Spanish: erre
>? French: erre
>? Italian: erre

References

^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “ēr”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 193

Latvian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ɛɾ]
Audio: (file)

Noun

er m (invariable)

The Latvian name of the Latin script letter R/r.

Low German

Pronoun

er

alternative spelling of ehr

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛr/

Noun

er m inan

The name of the Latin script letter r/R.

Malay

Etymology

Possibly borrowed from English er or is a pronunciation spelling of a in non-rhotic Malay accents.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ə]

Interjection

er

Used to express hesitation; er, uh.
Synonym: a

Er, kita tengah ke mana ni?
Er, where are we going?

Mambae

Noun

er

water

References

Mambai Language Manual: Ainaro Dialect (2001)

Mandarin

Romanization

er

nonstandard spelling of ēr
nonstandard spelling of ér
nonstandard spelling of ěr
nonstandard spelling of èr

Usage notes

Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

Manx

Etymology

From a conflation of three Old Irish prepositions:

ar, air (“for”) (triggering lenition), from Proto-Celtic *ɸare (“in front of”), from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥h₂i. Cognates include Ancient Greek παρά (pará, “beside”) and English fore.
for (“on”) (triggering no mutation), from Proto-Celtic *uɸer (“over, on”) (compare Welsh ar, Breton war), from Proto-Indo-European *upér (compare Latin super, Ancient Greek ὑπέρ (hupér), Old English ofer).
íar (“after”) (triggering eclipsis), from Proto-Celtic *eɸirom (“after, behind”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi.

Cognates include Irish ar and Scottish Gaelic air.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /erʲ/

Preposition

er

on

Inflection

Inflection of er
	Person:		simple	emphatic
singular	first		orrym	orrym's
	second		ort	ort's
	third	m	er	ersyn
	third	f	urree	urreeish

plural	first		orrin	orrinyn
	second		erriu	erriuish
	third		orroo	orroosyn

Pronoun

er

third-person singular of er
on him/it

Derived terms

ersyn (emphatic)

Middle Dutch

Adverb

er

unstressed form of dāer

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English ǣr, from Proto-West Germanic *airi, from Proto-Germanic *airi.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛ̝ːr/

Adverb

er

Derived terms

erly

Descendants

English: ere
Scots: air
Yola: ear

References

“ēr, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 25 May 2020.

Etymology 2

PIE root
*h₂eḱ-

Inherited from Old English ēar, æhher, from Proto-West Germanic *ahaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *ahaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éḱos.

The form ner displays reanalysis of the /n/ of the article an as belonging to the noun.

Alternative forms

eere, ere, eyre, ȝer, ner
ear (AB language)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛ̝ːr/

Noun

er (plural eres)

ear (fruiting body of a grain plant)
(rare) A cluster of fruit.

Descendants

English: ear
Middle Scots: eichyr, ekir (< Old English æhher)
- Scots: aicher, aiker, icker
- Shetland: acker, aker, akker

References

“ēr(e”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Determiner

er

alternative form of hire (“her”, genitive)

Pronoun

er

alternative form of hire (“hers”)

Etymology 4

Pronoun

er

alternative form of hire (“her”, object)

Etymology 5

Noun

er

alternative form of eere (“ear of grain”)

Etymology 6

Determiner

er

alternative form of here (“their”)

Middle High German

Etymology

Inherited from Old High German er, from Proto-Germanic *iz (“he”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈɛr/

Pronoun

ër

(personal) he

Inflection

Middle High German personal pronouns
			nominative	genitive	dative	accusative
singular	first person		ich	mīn	mir	mich
	second person		du, dū	dīn	dir	dich
	third person	m	ër CG hë(r)	sīn	im(e)	in
		f	siu	ir(e)	ir(e)	sie
		n	ëȥ CG iȥ, it	es	im(e)	ëȥ CG iȥ, it
plural	first person		wir	unser	uns	uns, unsich
	second person		ir	iuwer	iu, iuch	iuch
	third person	m	sie	ir(e)	in	sie
		f	sie			sie
		n	siu			siu

The distinction of the forms siu and sie as shown above is typical of earlier Upper German texts, but was never general. The forms sī and si existed additionally and all four were increasingly used without differentiation.

Descendants

Alemannic German:
Low Alemannic:
Alsatian: ar, er, ër

Badisch: er

High Alemannic: er, är
Bernese: är

Lucerne: aer

Northeastern: ar

Walser: är
Swabian: er, ear
Swabian Jura: ear
Bavarian: er
- Cimbrian: èar, er, ar
- Mòcheno: er
Central Franconian:
Moselle Franconian: er
- Hunsrik: er, ëyer (Wiesemann spelling system)
East Central German:
High Prussian: er

Silesian East Central German:
Lower Silesian East Central German: a

Upper Silesian East Central German: a

North Moravian: ar

Thuringian: er
Central Thuringian: er

West Thuringian: aa

Upper Saxon German: är
Meißnisch: är

Osterländisch: är

Erzgebirgisch: aorr

Lusatian: ar
German: er
Berlinerisch: er/ea
East Franconian: er, ea
Unterfränkisch: ar

Hohenlohisch: er
Rhine Franconian:
Upper Hessian: er

Lorraine Franconian: ér, éa

Palatine German: er
- Pennsylvania German: er
Yiddish: ער (er)

References

Benecke, Georg Friedrich; Müller, Wilhelm; Zarncke, Friedrich (1863), “ër”, in Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch: mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Benecke, Stuttgart: S. Hirzel

Mòcheno

Etymology

From Middle High German ër, from Old High German ër, from Proto-West Germanic *iʀ (“he, it”), from Proto-Germanic *iz (“he, she, it, they”). Cognate with German er.

Pronoun

er

he, it

Inflection

Personal pronouns
	singular	plural
1st person	i	biar
2nd person	du	ir
3rd person	er, si, s	sei

References

“er” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /eːɾ/, [æːɾ]

Verb

er

present of være (“to be”)
Han er ikke hjemme. ― He is not home.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /æː(r)/, /eː(r)/

Verb

er

is, are, am (present of to be) present of vera
Eg er framand. ― I am a stranger.
(auxiliary) be
Boka er skriven. ― The book is written

Bøkene er skrivne. ― The books are written.

References

“vera” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
“er på engelsk”, in DinOrdbok, Nynorsk-engelsk oversettelse, 15 October 2018 (last accessed)

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *airi, from Proto-Germanic *airiz.

Preposition

ēr

before, earlier than

Descendants

Middle Dutch: êer
- Dutch: eer
  - Afrikaans: eer
- Limburgish: ieër

Conjunction

ēr

ere, afore

Descendants

Middle Dutch: êer
- Dutch: eer
  - Afrikaans: eer
- Limburgish: ieër

Adverb

ēr

previously, in an earlier period, in a bygone time
earlier, before a certain time or period

Descendants

Middle Dutch: êer

Old Frisian

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *airi, from Proto-Germanic *airiz. Cognates include Old English ǣr, Old Saxon ēr and Old Dutch ēr.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈeːr/, [ˈɛːr]

Adverb

ēr

earlier, previously

Preposition

ēr (+ dative)

before (of time)

Descendants

Saterland Frisian: eer
West Frisian: ear't

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈeːr/, [ˈɛːr]

Noun

ēr f

alternative form of ēre

References

Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009), An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Old High German

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *airi, from Proto-Germanic *airiz, whence also Old English ær.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /eːr/

Adjective

ēr

early

Adverb

ēr

ere, before
formerly

Conjunction

ēr

before, until

Preposition

ēr (+ dative)

before

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *aiz, akin to Old English ār, Old Norse eir.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /eːr/

Noun

ēr n

ore
brass

Descendants

Middle High German: er
- Alemannic German: Eer
  - ⇒ Alemannic German: eerig
⇒ Old High German: ērīn
- Middle High German: ērīn
  - German: ehern

Etymology 3

From Proto-Germanic *iz (“he”), akin to Gothic 𐌹𐍃 (is, “he”), Latin is (“he”).

Alternative forms

hër (northern)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛr/

Pronoun

ër

he
- c. 830 CE, Rabanus Maurus et al., Diatessaron 13.20:
  […] Bist thu wīzago? inti hër antlingota nein […]
  […] Are you prophet? and he responded no […]

Inflection

Old High German personal pronouns
			nominative	genitive	dative	accusative
singular	first person		ih (ihha, ihcha)	mīn	mir	mih
	second person		dū	dīn	dir	dih
	third person	m	er (her)	(sīn)	imu, imo	inan, in
		f	siu; sī, si	ira (iru, iro)	iru, iro	sia
		n	iz	es, is	imu, imo	iz
plural	first person		wir	unsēr	uns	unsih
	second person¹		ir	iuwēr	iu	iuwih
	third person	n	sie	iro	im, in	sie
		f	sio	sio
		n	siu	siu

¹ Also polite singular form

Descendants

Middle High German: ër (see there for further descendants)

References

Joseph Wright, An Old High German Primer

Old Norse

Alternative forms

es, -'s

Etymology 1

From earlier es, from Proto-Germanic *iz (“he; 3rd person personal pronoun”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌹𐍃 (is), Old High German ēr (German er).

Pronoun

er

who, which, that
- verse 76 of the Hávamál (1996 translation by Carolyne Larrington)
  en orðstírr / deyr aldregi / hveim er sér góðan getr
  but the glory of reputation never dies, / for the man who can get himself a good one

Conjunction

er

where
when
En er hann dó, grét ǫll verǫldin
and when he died, the whole world cried.

Descendants

Icelandic: er
Faroese: er
Old Swedish: ær

Usage notes

The oldest Icelandic manuscripts from the 12th century still have the older form es, and many poems metrically require the contracted form -s (which is also sporadically present in later manuscripts like the late 13th century Codex Regius). In spite of this, most editors chose never to restore er to es, Finnur Jónsson and the editors of the Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages series being important exceptions.

Etymology 2

From earlier es, from Proto-Norse ᛁᛊᛏ (ist), from Proto-Germanic *isti, first/third-person singular indicative present of *wesaną. The final -s was replaced by -r due to analogy to the plural forms of the verb.

Verb

er

third-person singular indicative present of vera

Usage notes

See above; the same rules apply.

Descendants

Icelandic: er
Faroese: er
Norwegian:
- Norwegian Bokmål: er
- Norwegian Nynorsk: er
Jamtish: er
Elfdalian: ir
Old Swedish: ær
- Swedish: är
Danish: er
Old Gutnish: ier

Old Prussian

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-/*h₂r̥-. Cognate with Lithuanian ar̃ (“also, if”), Latvian ar (“also”), Ancient Greek ἄρ (ár, “hence, as well as”).

Preposition

er + (optionally another preposition)

until, to, up to

Derived terms

ergi

Particle

er

as well as

References

Mažiulis, Vytautas (1988), “er”, in Prūsų kalbos etimologijos žodynas [Etymological Dictionary of Old Prussian]‎^[8] (in Lithuanian), volume 1, Vilnius: Mokslas, pages 282-283

Old Saxon

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛːr/

Etymology 1

From Proto-West Germanic *airi, whence also Old English ær.

Adjective

ēr

early

Declension

Positive forms of ēr
Strong declension
	singular			plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ēr	ēr	ēr	ēre, ēra	ēra	ēr, ēra
accusative	ēran, ēren	ēra	ēr	ēra, ēre	ēra	ēr, ēra
genitive	ēres, ēras	ērara, ēraro	ēres, ēras	ēraro, ēroro, ērero	ēraro, ēroro, ērero	ēraro, ēroro, ērero
dative	ērumu, ērum, ērun, ērun, ēron, ēren, ēran	ēraro, ēraru, ērara	ērumu, ērum, ērun, ērun, ēron, ēren, ēran	ērun, ēron, ērum	ērun, ēron	ērun, ēron, ērum

Weak declension
	singular			plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	ēro, ēra	ēra, ēre	ēra, ēre	ēron, ērun	ēron, ērun, ēran	ēron, ērun
accusative	ēron, ēran	ērun, ēron, ēran	ēra, ēre	ēron, ērun	ēron, ērun, ēran	ēron, ērun
genitive	ēren, ēran	ērun, ēran, ēren	ēren, ēran	ērono, ēreno	ērono	ērono, ēreno
dative	ēron, ēren, ēran	ērun, ēran	ēron, ēren, ēran	ēron, ērun	ēron, ērun	ēron, ērun

Adverb

ēr

before, ere
formerly

Conjunction

ēr

before

Preposition

ēr [with dative]

before

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *aiz, whence also Old English ār.

Noun

ēr ?

copper, bronze
ore

Descendants

Middle Low German: ēr

Etymology 3

From Proto-Germanic *airuz. Cognate with Old English ār, Old Norse árr, Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌿𐍃 (airus).

Noun

ēr m

messenger, herald

Old Tupi

Etymology

Back-formation from era (“name”).^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɛɾ/
Rhymes: -ɛɾ
Hyphenation: er

Adjective

er (IIa class pluriform, R1 rer, R2 ser, noun form era)

named; having a name

Derived terms

seryba'e

References

^ Navarro, Eduardo de Almeida (2013), “era”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil ] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 109, column 1

Palauan

Preposition

er

Used to indicate a specific object noun phrase.
el mo er a medad ― in the future.

er a elecha el tutau ― this morning.

rakket er a tenis ― tennis racket.

References

er in Palauan Language Online: Palauan-English Dictionary, at tekinged.com.
er in Palauan-English Dictionary, at trussel2.com.
er in Lewis S. Josephs; Edwin G. McManus; Masa-aki Emesiochel (1977), Palauan-English Dictionary, University Press of Hawaii, →ISBN, page 88.

Pennsylvania German

Etymology

Compare German er.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛɐ̯/

Pronoun

er

he

Declension

Pennsylvania German personal pronouns
Number	singular						plural
Person/ Gender	1st	2nd person		3rd person			1st	2nd	3rd
Person/ Gender	1st	familiar	polite/formal	m	f	n	1st	2nd	3rd
nominative	ich	du de¹	dihr der¹ Sie	er	sie se¹	es	mir mer¹	dihr der¹	sie
dative	mir mer¹	dir der¹	eich Ihne Ne¹	ihm em¹	ihre re¹	ihm em¹	uns	eich	ihne ne¹
accusative	mich	dich	eich Sie	ihn en¹	sie se¹	es	uns	eich	sie

¹ unstressed

Polabian

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Low German ere / eren / here.

Noun

er m ?

master, gentleman

Adverb

er

alternative form of ar

References

Polański, Kazimierz (1971), “er”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka Drzewian połabskich [Etymological Dictionary of the Polabian Drevani Language] (in Polish), number 2 (ďüzd – ľotü), Wrocław; Warszawa etc.: Ossolineum, page 145
Polański, Kazimierz; James Allen Sehnert (1967), “er”, in Polabian-English Dictionary, The Hague, Paris: Mouton & Co, page 60
Olesch, Reinhold (1962), “Herr”, in Thesaurus Linguae Dravaenopolabicae [Thesaurus of the Drevani language] (in German), volumes 1: A – O, Cologne, Vienna: Böhlau Verlag, →ISBN, page 237

Polish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɛr/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -ɛr
Syllabification: er

Noun

er f

genitive plural of era

Salar

Etymology 1

From Old Turkic erür.

Noun

er

is, are

Etymology 2

From Proto-Turkic *ēr. Cognate to Azerbaijani ər, Turkish er, Turkmen är.

Noun

er

man

Etymology 3

From Proto-Turkic *ẹ̄r. Cognate to Turkish er, Turkmen īr.

Adjective

er

(Dialectal, Mengda, Ejia) early
Synonym: erği

Antonym: uda

Adverb

er

morning
long time ago

Declension

Declension of er
	singular	plural
nominative	er	erler
genitive	erniği	erlerniği
dative	ere	erlere
definite accusative	erni	erlerni
locative	erde	erlerde
ablative	erden	erlerden
instrumental	erla	erlerla
pronominal	erği	erlerği
indefinite article	er-or	erler-or
definite article	ercük	erlercük

Possessive declension of er
	nominative
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	irim	irimler
siniği ("your")	iriñ	iriñler
aniği ("their")	iri	iriler
piserniği ("our")	irimiz	irimizler
selerniği ("your")	iriñiz	iriñizler
ularniği ("their")	iri	iriler
	accusative
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	irimni	irimlerni
siniği ("your")	iriñni	iriñlerni
aniği ("their")	irini	irilerni
piserniği ("our")	irimizni	irimizlerni
selerniği ("your")	iriñizni	iriñizlerni
ularniği ("their")	irini	irilerni
	dative
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	irime	irimlere
siniği ("your")	iriñe	iriñlere
aniği ("their")	iriğe	irilere
piserniği ("our")	irimize	irimizlere
selerniği ("your")	iriñize	iriñizlere
ularniği ("their")	iriğe	irilere
	locative
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	irimde	irimlerde
siniği ("your")	iriñde	iriñlerde
aniği ("their")	iride	irilerde
piserniği ("our")	irimizde	irimizlerde
selerniği ("your")	iriñizde	iriñizlerde
ularniği ("their")	iride	irilerde
	ablative
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	irimden	irimlerden
siniği ("your")	iriñden	iriñlerden
aniği ("their")	iriden	irilerden
piserniği ("our")	irimizden	irimizlerden
selerniği ("your")	iriñizden	iriñizlerden
ularniği ("their")	iriden	irilerden
	instrumental
	singular	plural
miniği ("my")	irimla	irimlerla
siniği ("your")	iriñla	iriñlerla
aniği ("their")	irila	irilerla
piserniği ("our")	irimizla	irimizlerla
selerniği ("your")	iriñizla	iriñizlerla
ularniği ("their")	irila	irilerla

Derived terms

erği
ette
er-geş (“morning and evening”)

References

Tenishev, Edhem (1976), “eř, er”, in Stroj salárskovo jazyká [Grammar of Salar], Moscow: Nauka, page 326
马伟 [Ma Wei], 朝克 [Chaoke] (2014), “er”, in 撒拉语366条会话读本 [Salar 366 Conversation Reader]‎^[9], 1^st edition, 社会科学文献出版社 [Social Science Literature Press], →ISBN, page 105
马伟 [Ma Wei] (2016), “er, erğine”, in 濒危语言——撒拉语研究 [Endangered Languages - Salar Language Studies], 青海 [Qīnghǎi, Qinghai]: 青海师范大学 [Qinghai Normal University], unpublished finalized project manuscript (国家社会科学基金项目结项稿, 定稿; National Social Science Fund of China), pages 108, 262
林莲云 [Lin Lianyun] (1985), “er”, in 撒拉语简志 [A Brief History of Salar]‎^[10], Beijing: 民族出版社: 琴書店, →OCLC, pages 33, 134
Ma, Chengjun; Han, Lianye; Ma, Weisheng (December 2010), “er”, in 米娜瓦尔·艾比布拉 [Minavar Abibra], editor, 撒维汉词典 [Sā-Wéi-Hàn cídiǎn, Salar-Uyghur-Chinese dictionary] (in Chinese), 1st edition, Beijing, →ISBN, page 103

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian -er, from Proto-West Germanic *iʀ. Cognates include West Frisian er and German er.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ər/

Pronoun

er

unstressed form of hie (“he”)

References

Marron C. Fort (2015), “er”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN

Scots

Etymology 1

Verb

er

(Southern Scots) Second-person simple present form of ti be
(Southern Scots) Plural simple present form of ti be
(Southern Scots) First-person singular simple present form of an obscure form of ti be
A'm er so!
(please add an English translation of this usage example)

Usage notes

Used emphatically. See ir.

Etymology 2

Noun

er (plural ers)

Shetland form of air (“beach”)

Spanish

Article

er

(Andalusia, Extremadura) eye dialect spelling of el
(Andalusia, Extremadura) pronunciation spelling of el

Swedish

Etymology

Contraction of earlier eder, from Old Swedish iþer, idher, from Old Norse iðʀ, from Proto-Germanic *izwiz, dative/accusative of *jūz, from Proto-Indo-European *yúHs.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /eːr/

Pronoun

er c (neuter possessive only ert, plural era)

you (plural objective case)
Synonym: (highly formal, archaic) eder

Ni två är här, så jag ser er
You [subject] two are here, so I see you [object]

Det är en ära att få träffa er båda
It is an honor to [get to] meet you both
(possessive) your, yours (possessed by the multiple individuals addressed, of one common-gender thing (or possessed by the single individual addressed if used as a polite pronoun – see (sense 3)))
Synonyms: (informal) eran, (formal, archaic) eder

Är det här er(an) boll, pojkar?
Is this your ball, boys? ["Eran" is common in casual speech]

Scenen är er, pojkar!
The stage is yours, boys! ["Eran" would be uncommon here, perhaps due to "är er" sounding more pithy]

Tro på er själva, pojkar!
Believe in yourselves, boys! ["Eran" is ungrammatical here]

Är det här er boll, fröken?
Is this your [polite] ball, Miss? [Dated – see (sense 3). "Eran" would intuitively defeat the purpose of being polite here by being slightly less proper.]
you (second-person singular objective formal) (capitalized Er, rare in contemporary Swedish – see the notes at ni, which mostly also apply here)
Jag hör er inte, kapten
I can't hear you [polite], Captain
Er is likely to still have been perceived as polite here, despite being used "upwards," which is a difference from ni, hence "mostly also apply." A perfectly "safe" polite phrasing would have been, "Jag hör inte kapten" (I can't hear Captain), using a title.
(reflexive pronoun) reflexive of ni; compare yourselves
Identifiera er, pojkar!
Identify yourselves, boys!

Ta hand om er, pojkar!
Take care, boys!
(literally, “Take care of yourselves, boys!”)

Låt er inte luras, pojkar!
Don't be fooled, boys!
(literally, “Let yourselves not be-fooled, boys!”)

Para ihop er två och två
Pair up in twos
(literally, “Pair together yourselves two and two”)

Skulle ni vilja lära er (att) jonglera?
Would you guys like to learn how to juggle?
(literally, “Would you [plural] want-to learn/teach yourselves to juggle?”)

Identifiera er, fröken!
Identify yourself [polite], Miss! [Dated – see (sense 3)]

Usage notes

See ni for a note on its use as a courteous 2nd person singular.
Even though er (2) and its archaic form eder is the possessive pronoun, it does have a genitive form ers and eders, which is only used in expressions like ers majestät (“Your Majesty”) and ers höghet (“Your Highness”).

Declension

Swedish personal pronouns
Number	Person		nominative	oblique	possessive
Number	Person		nominative	oblique	common	neuter	plural
singular	first	—	jag	mig, mej³	min	mitt	mina
	second	—	du	dig, dej³	din	ditt	dina
	third	masculine (person)	han	honom, han², en⁵	hans
		feminine (person)	hon	henne, na⁵	hennes
		gender-neutral (person)¹	hen	hen, henom⁷	hens
		common (noun)	den	den	dess
		neuter (noun)	det	det	dess
		indefinite	man or en⁴	en	ens
		reflexive	—	sig, sej³	sin	sitt	sina
plural	first	—	vi	oss	vår, våran²	vårt, vårat²	våra
	second	—	ni	er	er, eran², ers⁶	ert, erat²	era
	second	archaic	I	eder	eder, eders⁶	edert	edra
	third	—	de, dom³	dem, dom³	deras
	third	reflexive	—	sig, sej³	sin	sitt	sina

¹Neologism. Usage has increased since 2010, though it remains limited.

²Informal

³Colloquial pronunciation spelling.

⁴Dialectal, also used lately as an alternative to man, to avoid association to the male gender.

⁵Informal, somewhat dialectal

⁶Formal address

⁷Discouraged by the Swedish Language Council

References

“er”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
“er”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
“er”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

-re, re-

Turkish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛɾ/, [æɾ]
Rhymes: -æɾ

Etymology 1

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish ایر, ار, from Old Anatolian Turkish ایر (ẹr), from Proto-Turkic *ẹ̄r (“early”). Related to Old Turkic 𐰼 (er).

Adverb

er

(dialectal) early
Synonym: erken
(Afyonkarahisar) suhur
Synonym: sahur

Usage notes

Also found in widespread non-dialectal use in phrases such as er ya da geç ("sooner or later")

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish ار (er), from Old Anatolian Turkish ار (er), from Proto-Turkic *ēr (“man”). Compare Old Turkic 𐰼 (er), Azerbaijani ər.

Noun

er (definite accusative eri, plural erler)

man, male
Synonyms: adam, erkek
warrior, hero, noble
Synonyms: yiğit, batur, bahadır, kahraman
conscript, private (soldier of the lowest rank of the army)
Synonym: nefer
tribesman
a skilled person
(now chiefly dialectal, Kars, Rize) husband
Synonyms: koca, zevç
(religion, mysticism) one who displays a lot of religious virtues, and therefore is thought to have reached God's love; saint
Synonyms: veli, ermiş
pawn
Synonym: piyon

Declension

Declension of er

	singular	plural
nominative	er	erler
definite accusative	eri	erleri
dative	ere	erlere
locative	erde	erlerde
ablative	erden	erlerden
genitive	erin	erlerin

Possessive forms
nominative
	singular	plural
1st singular	erim	erlerim
2nd singular	erin	erlerin
3rd singular	eri	erleri
1st plural	erimiz	erlerimiz
2nd plural	eriniz	erleriniz
3rd plural	erleri	erleri
definite accusative
	singular	plural
1st singular	erimi	erlerimi
2nd singular	erini	erlerini
3rd singular	erini	erlerini
1st plural	erimizi	erlerimizi
2nd plural	erinizi	erlerinizi
3rd plural	erlerini	erlerini
dative
	singular	plural
1st singular	erime	erlerime
2nd singular	erine	erlerine
3rd singular	erine	erlerine
1st plural	erimize	erlerimize
2nd plural	erinize	erlerinize
3rd plural	erlerine	erlerine
locative
	singular	plural
1st singular	erimde	erlerimde
2nd singular	erinde	erlerinde
3rd singular	erinde	erlerinde
1st plural	erimizde	erlerimizde
2nd plural	erinizde	erlerinizde
3rd plural	erlerinde	erlerinde
ablative
	singular	plural
1st singular	erimden	erlerimden
2nd singular	erinden	erlerinden
3rd singular	erinden	erlerinden
1st plural	erimizden	erlerimizden
2nd plural	erinizden	erlerinizden
3rd plural	erlerinden	erlerinden
genitive
	singular	plural
1st singular	erimin	erlerimin
2nd singular	erinin	erlerinin
3rd singular	erinin	erlerinin
1st plural	erimizin	erlerimizin
2nd plural	erinizin	erlerinizin
3rd plural	erlerinin	erlerinin

Predicative forms
	singular	plural
1st singular	erim	erlerim
2nd singular	ersin	erlersin
3rd singular	er erdir	erler erlerdir
1st plural	eriz	erleriz
2nd plural	ersiniz	erlersiniz
3rd plural	erler	erlerdir

Derived terms

Related terms

eren

Etymology 3

Verb

er

second-person singular imperative of ermek

Uzbek

Other scripts
Arabic	Afghan Uzbek	اېر (er)
Arabic	Yangi Imlo
Cyrillic		эр‍
Latin		er‍

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *ēr.

Noun

er (plural erlar)

man
Synonym: erkak
husband
Synonym: zavj

Antonym: xotin

Derived terms

er-xotin

Welsh

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɛr/
Rhymes: -ɛr

Etymology 1

From Middle Welsh yr, from Proto-Brythonic *er, from Proto-Celtic *ɸeri, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“in front”). Compare Cornish er (“for, by”), Ancient Greek περί (perí, “about, peri-”), Latin per (“through”).^[1]

Conjunction

er

although
- 2018 September 28, “Cymraeg y Wladfa a Chymraeg Cymru - beth yw'r gwahaniaethau?”, in BBC Cymru Fyw:
  Nid y Sbaeneg (er y byddai hynny'n syniad da hefyd) ond Cymraeg arbennig y Wladfa.
  Not Spanish (although that would also be a good idea) but the particular Welsh of Y Wladfa.
- 2019 June 13, Llinos Lee, “Y Barri: Mwy na dim ond 'Gavin & Stacey'”, in BBC Cymru Fyw:
  Ges i fy magu yn Y Barri, ac er mod i wedi symud i ffwrdd i'r brifysgol, …
  I was brought up in Barry, and although I moved away for university, …

Preposition

er (triggers soft mutation)

(literary) since
Synonym: ers
(archaic) in spite of, despite
Synonym: er gwaethaf
(archaic) in order to
Synonyms: er mwyn, i
(archaic) for the sake of
Synonym: er mwyn
(obsolete) because of
Synonyms: achos, o achos, oherwydd, oblegid
(obsolete) for, in exchange for
Synonym: am
(obsolete) resulting in
(obsolete) through
Synonyms: trwy, drwy

Usage notes

In very formal or literary language, er is used when a specific start time is mentioned.

Saif y castell yma er 1284.

The castle has stood here since 1284.

Y mae’r castell yn adfail er pan fu farw’r brenin olaf.

The castle has been a ruin since the last king died.

Ers is used when the beginning of the time period is not mentioned.

Mae’r castell yma ers canrifoedd.

The castle has been here for centuries.

In less formal registers, ers is used in all instances.

Inflection

Personal forms (literary)
	singular	plural
first person	erof	erom
second person	erot	eroch
third person	erddo m erddi f	erddynt

Derived terms

er mwyn (“for the sake of; in order to”)
er gwaethaf (“despite”)
ers (“since”)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

er f (plural eriau)

The name of the Latin script letter R/r.

Mutation

Mutated forms of er
radical	soft	nasal	h-prothesis
er	unchanged	unchanged	her

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

^ R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “er”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

West Frisian

Pronoun

er

clitic form of hy used before the object or after the verb.

[1] De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “ēr”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 193

[2] Navarro, Eduardo de Almeida (2013), “era”, in Dicionário de tupi antigo: a língua indígena clássica do Brasil [Dictionary of Old Tupi: The Classical Indigenous Language of Brazil ] (overall work in Portuguese), São Paulo: Global, →ISBN, page 109, column 1

[3] R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “er”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

[1]

[1]

[1]

Saterland Frisian personal pronouns
			subject case		object case
			stressed	unstressed	object case
singular	1st		iek		mie
	2nd		du		die
	3rd	m	hie	er	him
		f	ju	ze	hier
		n	dät	et	dät
plural	1st		wie		uus
	2nd		jie		jou
	3rd		jo	ze	hier

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Interjection

Translations

Verb

Noun

Etymology 2

Noun

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Pronunciation

Noun

Alemannic German

Etymology

Pronoun

Declension

Bavarian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

Pronoun

See also

Breton

Contraction

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronoun

Inflection

References

Cornish

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Preposition

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

Noun

Alternative forms

Etymology 3

Noun

Etymology 4

Noun

Etymology 5

Noun

Etymology 6

Noun

References

Crimean Tatar

Adjective

Czech

Pronunciation

Noun

Further reading

Danish

Etymology

Pronunciation

Verb

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Adverb

Usage notes

Descendants

Etymology 2

Adverb

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

Anagrams

Faroese

Pronunciation

Verb

Gagauz

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Alternative forms