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bier

/bɪə/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about bier at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. A coffin along with its stand.
    we followed the bier to the graveyard
  2. A stand to support a corpse or a coffin prior to burial.

Origin

From Middle English beer, beere, bere, from Old English bēr, (West Saxon) bǣr (“stretcher, bier”), from Proto-West Germanic *bāru, from Proto-Germanic *bērō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Beere (“stretcher, bier”), Dutch baar (“bier”), German Bahre (“bier, stretcher”). More at bear.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)