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Origin and history of -eer

-eer

noun word-forming element meaning "one who" (operates, produces, deals in); Englished form of French -ier, from Latin -arius, -iarius; compare -ary. Usually in English words of more recent borrowing from French; older words tend to keep -ier.

Entries linking to -eer

auctioneer(n.)

1708, "one whose business is to offer goods or property for sale by auction," from auction (n.) + -eer. From 1733 as a verb, "to sell by auction." Related: Auctioneering.

gazetteer(n.)

1610s, "journalist," from gazette (n.) + -eer. Meaning "geographical dictionary" is from 1704, from Laurence Eachard's 1693 geographical handbook for journalists, "The Gazetteer's, or Newsman's, Interpreter," second edition simply titled "The Gazetteer."

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profiteer
"to make excessive gains, as by the sale of necessary goods at extortionate prices," 1797, but dormant in English until it was revived early 20c. and popularized in World War I, from profit + -eer. From 1912 as a noun. Related: Profiteering (1814). Or is it simply hysteria which
ere
from Proto-Germanic *airiz, comparative of *air "early" (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German er, Dutch eer...
brand
Old English brand, brond "fire, flame, destruction by fire; firebrand, piece of burning wood, torch," and (poetic) "sword," from Proto-Germanic *brandaz "a burning" (source also of Old Norse brandr, Old High German brant, Old Frisian brond "firebrand; blade of a sword," German br
hypochondria
"unfounded belief that one is sick," by 1816; a narrowing from the earlier sense "depression or melancholy without real cause" (1660s); from Middle English medical term ipocondrie "lateral regions of the upper abdomen" (late 14c.). This is from Late Latin hypochondria, from Greek
gentile
"one who is not a Jew," c. 1400; earlier "one who is not a Christian, a pagan" (late 14c.), from Late Latin noun use of Latin gentilis "of the same family or clan, of or belonging to a Roman gens," from gens (genitive gentis) "race, clan" (from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget,
scourge
c. 1200, "a whip used for inflicting pain or punishment, a lash used for torture," from Anglo-French scorge, escorge, back-formation from Old French scurge, eschurge "a whip, scourge, thong," from escorgier "to whip," which is from Vulgar Latin *excorrigiare. This is a compound o
speakeasy
"unlicensed saloon," 1889 (in the New York "Voice"), from the verbal phrase, from speak (v.) + easy (adv.); so called from the practice of speaking quietly about such a place in public, or when inside it, so as not to alert the police and neighbors. Compare early 19c. Irish and B
cake
early 13c., "flat or comparatively thin mass of baked dough," from Old Norse kaka "cake," from West Germanic *kokon- (source also of Middle Dutch koke, Dutch koek "a cake, gingerbread, dumpling," Old High German kuohho, German Kuchen "a cake, a tart"). Not believed to be related
blurb
used by U.S. scholar Brander Matthews in 1906 in "American Character;" popularized 1907 by U.S. humorist Frank Gelett Burgess. Originally mocking excessive praise printed on book jackets, and probably derisively imitative. Gelett Burgess ... then entertained the guests with some
acolyte
early 14c., "inferior officer in the church," from Old French acolite or directly from Medieval Latin acolytus (Late Latin acoluthus), from Greek akolouthos "following, attending on," as a noun, "a follower, attendant," literally "having one way," from a- "together with," copulat

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