teer

See also: Teer and tẽer

English

Verb

teer (third-person singular simple present teers, present participle teering, simple past and past participle teered)

(transitive) To stir, as a calico-printer's sieve.

Anagrams

TREE, Tree, reet, rete, tree

Dutch

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /teːr/
Audio: (file)
Rhymes: -eːr

Etymology 1

Noun

teer m or n (uncountable)

tar

Derived terms

-general:

-types of tar:

Descendants

Berbice Creole Dutch: tere
Negerhollands: taer
→ Caribbean Javanese: tir
→ Indonesian: ter

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch teer, contraction of teder, teeder, from Old Dutch *tidar, from Proto-Germanic *tidaraz. Doublet of teder. Cognate to Middle English teere.

Adjective

teer (comparative teerder, superlative teerst)

tender, delicate

Usage notes

Teer tends to be used in sense of “easily damaged”, while the doublet teder is used in the sense of “fond, gentle”. For example, een tere gezondheid (“a delicate health”), but een teder moment (“a tender moment”).

Declension

Declension of teer
uninflected	teer
inflected	tere
comparative	teerder
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		teer	teerder	het teerst het teerste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	tere	teerdere	teerste
	n. sing.	teer	teerder	teerste
	plural	tere	teerdere	teerste
definite		tere	teerdere	teerste
partitive		teers	teerders	—

Descendants

Negerhollands: teer, teeri

Noun

teer m (uncountable)

tenderness

Etymology 3

Verb

teer

inflection of teren:
1. first-person singular present indicative
2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
3. imperative

Etymology 4

Over time, teer was also used to refer to tuberculosis, analogously to English consumption.

Noun

teer m (uncountable)

the act of digesting or being consumed
tuberculosis

Etymology 5

From Middle Dutch tree, from Old Dutch *trio, *treo, from Proto-West Germanic *treu, from Proto-Germanic *trewą (“tree, wood”), from pre-Germanic *dréwom, thematic e-grade derivative of Proto-Indo-European *dóru (“tree”). Cognate with English tree, Danish træ.

Noun

teer m (plural teren, diminutive teertje n)

(obsolete) tree (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)

Related terms

appelteer, elzenteer

Anagrams

eert, eter, reet, tere, tree

German

Pronunciation

Audio: (file)

Verb

teer

singular imperative of teeren
(colloquial) first-person singular present of teeren

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English tēar, tǣr, tæhher, teagor, from Proto-West Germanic *tahr.

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /tɛːr/

Noun

teer (plural teres or teren)

A tear (drop of liquid from the eyes):
1. A tear as a symptom of disease or injury.
2. An emotionally-triggered tear (e.g. ecstasy, remorse, sadness, sympathy)
A drop of liquid resembling a teardrop.
(figuratively) The feeling of teariness or distress.

Usage notes

This noun usually appears in the plural, which is usually teres; teren is early and rare.

Related terms

teren
tery

Descendants

English: tear
Middle Scots: tear, tere, teir, tichwr, tychir
- Scots: tear, taer, tare, teir

References

“tēr(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-25.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle Dutch têer, alternative form of têder, têeder (whence modern Dutch teder), from Old Dutch *tidar, from Proto-Germanic *tidaraz.

Alternative forms

teere, ter, tere

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /tɛːr/

Adjective

teer

Of good quality or manners.

Descendants

English: tear, tare (“good flax”) (obsolete)

References

“tēr, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-12-25.

Etymology 3

Noun

teer

Alternative form of ter (“tar”)

Etymology 4

Verb

teer

Alternative form of teren (“to ruin by removing or splitting”)

Swedish

Noun

teer

indefinite plural of te

Anagrams

eter