Added 7 October 2026
beer
/ˈbɪə̯/ noun
In Latin: cervēsa, zȳthum, birra Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about beer at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
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.
- A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.
- A solution produced by steeping plant materials in water or another fluid.
verb
noun
- One who is or exists.
Origin
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.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)