beer
pronunciation
How to pronounce beer in British English:
UK [bɪə(r)]
How to pronounce beer in American English:
US [bɪr]
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- Noun:
- a general name for alcoholic beverages made by fermenting a cereal (or mixture of cereals) flavored with hops
Word Origin
- beer
- beer: [OE] Originally, beer was probably simply a general term for a ‘drink’: it seems to have come from late Latin biber ‘drink’, which was a derivative of the verb bibere ‘drink’ (from which English gets beverage, bibulous, imbibe, and possibly also bibber). The main Old English word for ‘beer’ was ale, and beer (Old English bēor) is not very common until the 15th century. A distinction between hopped beer and unhopped ale arose in the 16th century.=> beverage, bibulous, imbibe
- beer (n.)
- Old English beor "strong drink, beer, mead," a word of much-disputed and ambiguous origin, cognate with Old Frisian biar, Middle Dutch and Dutch bier, Old High German bior, German Bier. Probably a 6c. West Germanic monastic borrowing of Vulgar Latin biber "a drink, beverage" (from Latin infinitive bibere "to drink;" see imbibe). Another suggestion is that it comes from Proto-Germanic *beuwoz-, from *beuwo- "barley." The native Germanic word for the beverage was the one that yielded ale (q.v.). Beer was a common drink among most of the European peoples, as well as in Egypt and Mesopotamia, but was known to the Greeks and Romans only as an exotic product. [Buck] They did have words for it, however. Greek brytos, used in reference to Thracian or Phrygian brews, was related to Old English breowan "brew;" Latin zythum is from Greek zythos, first used of Egyptian beer and treated as an Egyptian word but perhaps truly Greek and related to zyme "leaven." French bière is from Germanic. Spanish cerveza is from Latin cervesia "beer," perhaps related to Latin cremor "thick broth." Old Church Slavonic pivo, source of the general Slavic word for "beer," is originally "a drink" (compare Old Church Slavonic piti "drink"). French bière is a 16c. borrowing from German. U.S. slang beer goggles, through which every potential romantic partner looks desirable, is from 1986.
Example
- 1. But before coming here the beer must be tasted .
- 2. Mr beer has designed something better .
- 3. You can drink beer at work .
- 4. Keg beer is also produced here .
- 5. I 'd love more beer please .