er
(ə; ɜː) interj (Phonetics & Phonology) a sound made when hesitating in speech
er
the internet domain name for (Computer Science) Eritrea
Er
the chemical symbol for (Elements & Compounds) erbium
ER
abbreviation for 1. (Medicine) (in the US) Emergency Room (in hospitals)
2. Elizabeth Regina
3. (Historical Terms) Eduardus Rex
[Latin: Queen Elizabeth]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
er
(ə, ər)
interj. (used to express or represent a pause, hesitation, uncertainty, etc.)
ER
1. efficiency report.
2. emergency room.
Er
Chem. Symbol. erbium.
-er1
, a noun-forming suffix, added to nouns to form words designating persons from the object of their occupation or labor (hatter; moonshiner; roofer), or from their place of origin or abode (Icelander; southerner), or designating persons or things from some special characteristic or circumstance (double-decker; fourth-grader; tanker; teenager). When added to verbs, -er1 forms nouns denoting a person, animal or thing that performs or is used in performing the action of the verb ( baker; eye-opener; fertilizer; pointer; teacher).
Compare -ier 1, -yer.[Middle English
-er(e), representing Old English
-ere agentive suffix (c. Old High German
-āri, Gothic
-areis < Germanic
*-arjaz < Latin
-ārius -ary) and Old English
-ware, forming ethnonyms (as
Rōmware Romans), c. Old High German
-āri < Germanic
*-warioz people]
-er2
, a noun suffix occurring in loanwords from French in the Middle English period, most often names of occupations (butcher; carpenter; grocer; mariner; officer), but also other nouns (corner; danger; primer).
[Middle English < Anglo-French
-er, Old French
-ier < Latin
-ārius, -ārium. compare
-ary,
-eer,
-ier2]
-er3
, a termination of nouns denoting action or process, occurring orig. and predominantly in loanwords from French or Anglo-French: dinner; rejoinder; remainder.
[< Anglo-French or Old French, orig. infinitive suffix -er, -re]
-er4
, a suffix regularly used in forming the comparative degree of adjectives: harder; smaller.
[Middle English -er(e), -re, Old English -ra, -re; c. German -er]
-er5
, a suffix regularly used in forming the comparative degree of adverbs: faster.
[Middle English -er(e), -re, Old English -or; c. Old High German -or]
-er6
, a formative appearing in verbs having frequentative meaning: flicker; flutter; shiver; shudder.
[Middle English; Old English -r-; c. German -(e)r-]
-er7
, Chiefly Brit. a suffix that creates informal or jocular mutations of more neutral words, which are typically clipped to a single syllable before application of the suffix, and sometimes subjected to other phonetic alterations:
bed-sitter; fresher; rugger; soccer. Compare
-ers. [probably modeled on nonagentive uses of
-er1; said to have first become current in University College, Oxford, 1875–80]
E.R.
emergency room.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.