pair
pronunciation
How to pronounce pair in British English:
UK [peə(r)]
How to pronounce pair in American English:
US [per]
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- Noun:
- a set of two similar things considered as a unit
- two items of the same kind
- two people considered as a unit
- a poker hand with 2 cards of the same value
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- Verb:
- form a pair or pairs
- bring two objects, ideas, or people together
- occur in pairs
- arrange in pairs
- make love
Word Origin
- pair
- pair: [13] Like English par [17], parity [16], and peer ‘noble’ [13], pair comes ultimately from Latin pār ‘equal’, a word of unknown origin. Its derivative paria ‘equal things, similar things’ passed into English via Old French paire. Other English descendants of Latin pār include compare, disparage [14], nonpareil [15], and umpire.=> compare, disparage, nonpareil, par, parity, peer, umpire
- pair (v.)
- "to come together with another; be mated or married" (intransitive), also "to make a pair by matching" (transitive), c. 1600, from pair (n.). These senses now often are distinguished by pair off (c. 1803) for the former and pair up (1908) for the latter. Related: Paired; pairing.
- pair (n.)
- mid-13c., "two of a kind coupled in use," from Old French paire "pair, couple," and directly from Medieval Latin paria "equals," neuter plural of Latin par (genitive paris) "a pair, counterpart, equal," noun use of par (adj.) "equal, equal-sized, well-matched" (see par (n.)). Originally of things. Of persons from late 14c. Meaning "a woman's breasts" is attested from 1922. Pair bond (v.) is first attested 1940, in reference to birds mating.
Example
- 1. Gray selects a pair of stones for me .
- 2. He needs a new pair of sandals and sports shoes .
- 3. I have a pair of muammar gaddafi 's sunglasses .
- 4. The main pair are stern-mounted azipull propellers .
- 5. For this occasion a kerning pair is needed ( see drawing ) .