beer meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

beer

noun

AU, UK /ˈbɪə̯/ · UK /ˈbɪː/

Etymology

From Middle English ber, bere, from Old English bēor (“beer”) (Oxford OED notes: "rare, except in poetry"), from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą (“beer”) (putatively from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewsóm), meaning “brewer's yeast”. However, also see the "beer" entry on EtymOnline (q.v.), which links a connection to monastic Vulgar Latin *biber (“a drink, beverage”), from Latin bibere (“to drink”). Samuel Johnson in his famous 18th-century A Dictionary of the English Language guessed it was from (unattested) Welsh *bîr; he distinguished it in his time from ale — the ancient usual word — by beer being older-aged and/or smaller. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bjoor (“beer”), West Frisian bier (“beer”), Dutch bier (“beer”), German Low German Beer (“beer”), German Bier (“beer”), dialectal Swedish bjor, bör (“beer”), Norwegian Nynorsk bjor (“beer”), Faroese bjór (“beer”), Icelandic bjór (“beer”).

1

An alcoholic drink fermented from starch material, commonly barley malt; often with hops or some other substance (like gruit) to impart a bitter flavor.

Beer is brewed all over the world.
“[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]”1921, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

2

A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.

3

A solution produced by steeping plant materials in water or another fluid.

4

A glass, bottle, or can of any of the above beverages.

I bought a few beers from the shop for the party.
Can I buy you a beer?

1 more example

I'd like two beers and a glass of white wine.

5

A variety of the above beverages.

Pilsner is one of the most commonly served beers in Europe.
I haven't tried this beer before.

1 more example

I had two beers yesterday at the restaurant.

Synonyms: ale, amber fluid, amber nectar, beer, bitter, brew, brewski, brewsky, cold one, coldie, liquid bread, oat soda, reeb, suds, tinnie, wobbly pop
Derived terms: 161 terms
all foam and no beer, barley beer, beauty is in the eye of the beer holder, beerage, beeraholic, beeramid, beer and pretzels game, beer and skittles, beer baby, beer bar, beer baron, beer bash, beer-bellied, beer belly, beer bike, beer blast, beer bong, beer bottle, beer bread, beer bug, beer-bust, beer-butt chicken, beer can, beer-can chicken, beer cellar, beer cheese, beer clock, beer coaster, beer darts, beer die, beered-up, beeregar, beer engine, beerfest, beer flight, beer frame, beer fridge, beerful, beer garden, beergarita, Beergate, beer glass, beer-glass, beer goggles, beer-gut, beer gut, beer hall, beer hand, beer hat, beerhead, beer helmet, beerhound, beerhouse, beerily, beerish, beerita, beer knot, beer league, beer leaguer, beerless, beer lever, beerlike, beer line, beer lore, beer-lore, beermaker, beermaking, beer mat, beer match, beer mile, beer money, beermonger, beer muscles, beer mustard, beer nut, beer o'clock, beerocracy, beerocrat, beer-off, beer paddle, beer parlor, beer parlour, beer pong, beerpot, beer pull, beer run, beershop, beersicle, beer snake, beer soup, beer stick, beerstone, beertail, beertender, beer tent, beer ticket, beertini, beer up, Beervana, beerware, beer wench, beer wort, beer-wort, beerwort, beery, birch beer, black beer, bock beer, buttered beer, champagne taste on a beer billfold, champagne taste on a beer budget, champagne taste on a beer pocketbook, champagne taste on a beer salary, champagne taste on a beer wallet, chowder beer, coldbeer, country beer, craft beer, cry in one's beer, cry into one's beer, ear beer, egg in one's beer, flight of beer, for crying in the beer, free as in beer, ginger beer, gruitbeer, guest beer, have no fear of ice cold beer, hold my beer, ice beer, kaffir beer, keg beer, lager-beer, life is not all beer and skittles, long beer, malt beer, matai beer, microbeer, near beer, needle beer, nonbeer, nose beer, October beer, rice beer, root beer, root beer float, session beer, silver beer, skittles and beer, sky beer, small beer, smoked beer, spruce beer, steam beer, Sunday beer, table beer, weep in one's beer, weep into one's beer, weiss beer, wheat beer
Related terms: gage, half, jug, middie, pint, pitcher, pony, pot, schooner, barrel, bottle, can, cask, keg, :Category:Beer
Hypernyms: alcoholic beverage, drink
Hyponyms: 32 terms
barley wine, belly vengeance, black stuff, Broon, Broonale, brown ale, bock, draught, golden ale, homebrew, India pale ale, IPA, Kölsch, lager, lambic, microbrew, mild, new, old, pale ale, pilsener, pilsner, pils, porter, session ale, session beer, session bitter, shandy, stingo, stout, weissbier, witbier
Meronyms: adjunct, alcohol, barley, ester, head, hop, water, yeast

beer

verb

Etymology

From Middle English ber, bere, from Old English bēor (“beer”) (Oxford OED notes: "rare, except in poetry"), from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą (“beer”) (putatively from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewsóm), meaning “brewer's yeast”. However, also see the "beer" entry on EtymOnline (q.v.), which links a connection to monastic Vulgar Latin *biber (“a drink, beverage”), from Latin bibere (“to drink”). Samuel Johnson in his famous 18th-century A Dictionary of the English Language guessed it was from (unattested) Welsh *bîr; he distinguished it in his time from ale — the ancient usual word — by beer being older-aged and/or smaller. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bjoor (“beer”), West Frisian bier (“beer”), Dutch bier (“beer”), German Low German Beer (“beer”), German Bier (“beer”), dialectal Swedish bjor, bör (“beer”), Norwegian Nynorsk bjor (“beer”), Faroese bjór (“beer”), Icelandic bjór (“beer”).

1

Informal To give beer to (someone).

No doubt he then can feed us, wine us, beer us, And cook us something that can warm and cheer us.1870, Sidney Daryl, His First Brief. A Comedietta in Clement Scott, Drawing-room Plays and Parlour Pantomimes, Robson and Sons, pages 303–304
“Beer me!” said Goody. “Also your weed is shit. Where’s the good stuff, dude?”2010, Steve Brezenhoff, The Absolute Value of -1, Carolrhoda Lab, page 121:

2 more examples

I heard Patty Marsh yelling, ‘Beer him, Eleanor!’2013, Janet E. Cameron, Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World, Hatchette Books Ireland, page 124:
“Beer me!” To his astonishment she obeyed his command, appearing a minute later with a glass of beer and a wry smile.2013, R. D. Power, Forbidden, page 39:

2

Informal To drink beer.

In Japan, students on a Friday night announce “Let's beer!”2008, Charles Foran, Join the Revolution, Comrade: Journeys and Essays, page 83:

beer

noun

US /ˈbi.ɚ/ · UK /ˈbiː.ə/

Etymology From Middle English beere, equivalent to be + -er.

1

Nonstandard One who is or exists.

That meant, among other things, that he was going to be a fast-moving doer. And even when he was three or four, it wasn't hard for me to know that this wasn't going to be easy. Because Albert was a beer. Born that way.1990, Budge Wilson, “Be-ers and Doers”, in The leaving, and other stories:

Derived terms: afterbear, forebear