peern.adj.

Brit.

/pɪə/, U.S.

/pɪ(ə)r/

Forms: Middle English pare, Middle English per, Middle English peree, Middle English perle (transmission error), Middle English peyr, Middle English peyre, Middle English pir, Middle English prere (transmission error), Middle English pyer, Middle English pyere, Middle English pyre, Middle English–1500s pere, Middle English–1500s pier, Middle English–1600s peere, Middle English–1600s piere, Middle English–1700s peir, Middle English– peer, late Middle English pear- (in a late copy, in compounds), 1500s–1600s peare; Scottish pre-1700 pear, pre-1700 peeir, pre-1700 peir, pre-1700 peire, pre-1700 pere, pre-1700 peyr, pre-1700 peyre, pre-1700 pier, pre-1700 1700s– peer.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French per.

Etymology: < Anglo-Norman per, paar, paer, paire, peer, pere, perre, piere equal (12th cent. or earlier; also as adjective (13th cent. or earlier)), match (12th cent. or earlier), companion, spouse (13th cent. or earlier), peer of the realm (14th cent. or earlier), and Old French per, peer (c1050 in sense ‘equal’, c1100 in sense ‘one of the twelve peers of France’ (compare douzepers n.), 13th cent. in sense ‘person possessing a territory set up as a lordship and having the right to a seat in the Parliament of Paris’; Middle French, French pair ; also as adjective in sense ‘equal’ (c980 in Old French)) < classical Latin pār equal (see par n.¹), also as noun, a person of equal rank, a mate, partner, adversary, in post-classical Latin also a person of equal legal status (frequently 1086–1315 in British sources), a noble (frequently from early 12th cent. in British and continental sources). Compare Old Occitan par , adjective and noun, Spanish par (1220–50 as adjective and noun), Italian pari (a1250 as noun; attested earlier as adjective as pare (late 12th cent.)), Portuguese par (13th cent. as adjective and noun). Compare earlier douzepers n.With peers of the realm (see sense A. 4a) compare post-classical Latin pares regni (frequently 1339–1568 in British sources), and the following examples of Anglo-Norman piers de la terre :1321–2 Act 15 Edw. II Nous piers de la terre, Countes & Barouns, en la presence notre Seigneur le Roi, agardoms que Sir Hugh le Despenser le fitz et Sir Hugh le Despenser le piere soient desheriteez.1332 Rolls of Parl. II. 68/2 Le Seigneur de Wake & autres Pierres de la terre. In sense A. 4c reflecting ancient Greek ὅμοιοι , use as noun of masculine plural of ὅμοιος the same, equal, of the same rank (see homoeo- comb. form). Earlier currency is perhaps implied by surnames, as Osbert Pere (1230), William le Per (1271), Richard le Pere (1279), etc., although it is unclear whether these are to be interpreted as reflecting the Middle English or the Anglo-Norman word.

A. n.

a. A person of the same civil or ecclesiastical status or rank as the person in question; an equal before the law. Frequently with possessive adjective and in plural.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > one's social equal(s) > specifically before the law

peerc1300

c1300 St. Katherine (Harl.) 213 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S.-Eng. Legendary (1956) 540 (MED) Þench on þi noble gentrise..Turn þi þoȝt, & þu schalt beo þemperesse peer; Heo neschal habbe noȝt tofore þe, bote þat heo is mi fer.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 2461 (MED) He goth him up, and be his side He set him doun, as pier and pier.

c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. ix. 14 (MED) Dobest is aboue bothe a bisschopes pere.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 5614 (MED) Þe bald kyng..Nabizanda was named..a noble kniȝt, Was ane þe proudest of his pirs.

a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 89 (MED) Þe very pacient takiþ non hede wheþir he suffre of his prelate or of his piere, or of his lower.

1560 in J. A. Picton City of Liverpool: Select. Munic. Rec. (1883) (modernized text) I. 33 Every Mayor and Mayors peer.

1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) ii. xi. 184/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I When soeuer anie of the nobilitie are conuicted of high treason by their peeres, that is to saie, equals.

1660 R. Coke Justice Vindicated 16 Nor must Strafford suffer by an ordinary way of judicature by his peers,..he must die by Act of Parliament.

1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. xii. 403 As the lords, though different in rank, yet all of them are peers in respect of their nobility, so the Commoners..all are in law peers, in respect of their want of nobility.

1808 W. Scott Marmion i. xxix. 50 He..strode across the hall of state, And fronted Marmion where he sate, As he his peer had been.

1877 M. Oliphant Makers of Florence (ed. 2) iii. 79 The sacred chain of friendship links together those who are unequal in rank as well as those who are each other's peers.

1896 U.S. Rep. (Supreme Court) 163 559 In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful.

1901 Law Rep.: Appeal Cases 447 Arrangements were then made for the trial of Earl Russell before his Peers in the Royal Gallery.

1990 D. M. Walker Legal Hist. Scotl. II. 497 The claim that a man should be tried only by his peers..was widely recognised in the feudal systems of Europe.

b. A person who equals another in natural gifts, ability, or achievements; the equal in any respect of a person or thing. without peer: unequalled, unrivalled.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > [noun] > equal, counterpart, or equivalent > person

headlingOE

peerc1300

evena1393

ferea1400

matchc1400

paregalc1425

paragon1557

equal1573

coequal1577

perequala1578

copartner1591

corrivala1592

c1300 St. Martin (Laud) 166 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 453 (MED) Seint Martin was apostlene pier, for þe holie gost a-liȝhte In him ase in þe Apostles.

c1375 G. Chaucer Monk's Tale 3244 O..Sampsoun..Had thow nat toold to wommen thy secree, In al this world ne hadde been thy peere.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 12720 (MED) Sant iohn was messagere þat had of halines na peer.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 934 I know well thou haste nat thy pere of ony erthly synfull man.

1481 W. Caxton tr. Siege & Conqueste Jerusalem (1893) clxiv. 242 He had moche leyd doun his pryde..he wende to haue faughten peer to peer.

a1500 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 113 (MED) Heyle, blasyng starre, withowte peere.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ecclus. vi. 15 A faithfull frende hath no peare.

a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) i. 43 Fidelity, Bounty, and generous Honesty..wherein..the true Heroick English Gentleman hath no Peer.

1740 S. Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xxiii. 34 Troth, sir, said he,..I never knew her peer.

a1774 R. Fergusson Poems Var. Subj. (1779) 56 Say, ye red gowns!..Gin ere thir days hae had their peer.

1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. ii. 491 Ulysses..Jove's peer in wisdom.

1823 J. Galt Ringan Gilhaize I. ii. 23 I think na ye're just a peer to Sir Davie, that you need to ettle at coping with his braw mare.

1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. lxxiv. 607 Some of those men were the peers of the best European statesmen of the time.

1908 Daily Chron. 29 July 1/6 Goodwood has no peer in the season's social entertainments.

1926 Travel Nov. 16/1 As a handler of stock he [sc. the gaucho] is possibly the peer of a Queensland drover.

1990 T. Cunliffe Easy on Helm vi. 51 The roller-furling genoa may leave something to be desired in terms of set.., but as a boat-handling tool it is without peer.

c. Originally Cultural Anthropology and Sociology. A member of the same age group or social set; a contemporary.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > one's social equal(s)

fellowc1225

compeera1400

evenhead?a1400

checkmate?1504

comparec1540

mate1563

collateral1623

assessor1667

grade1827

Jones1879

peer1940

1940 Jrnl. Educ. Sociol. 14 210 Children bring to their group experiences with peers a set attitude toward or against the roles which they have held at home.

1966 Listener 14 Apr. 535/2 With their peers—that is, people of the same age, sex, and status—adolescents really experience for the first time relationships embodying equality and democracy.

1972 Jrnl. Social Psychol. 86 111 A subject receiving positive evaluations from a group of his peers was more active in the group.

1992 N.Y. Times 20 Oct. c8/2 The juvenile rat tried to play with the helpless little rodent blobs,..trying to wrestle with them just as it would with a peer.

d. Computing. A computer or other device that is connected to a network. Cf. peer-to-peer adj.

ΚΠ

1981 Computer Communication Rev. (Electronic text) 11 250/2 At time t0 one peer..begins to send a PDU to the other.

1996 K. Hafner & M. Lyon When Wizards stay up Late (1998) vi. 174 FTP was the first application to permit two machines to cooperate as peers instead of treating one as a terminal to the other.

2001 Wired Sept. 161/2 It wasn't until my PDA joined my home network as an unlimited-use peer that it felt like a genuinely useful appliance.

2009 J.-N. Hwang Multimedia Networking vii. 242 The new peer connects to the tracker to register its information and get from the tracker an initial list of..active peers which contain the requested file.

†2. A person who is associated or matched with another; a companion, a fellow, a mate; a rival. Frequently with possessive adjective. Obsolete.In quot. ?a1400: a wife.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a companion or associate > [noun]

yferec870

brothereOE

ymonec950

headlingOE

ferec975

fellowOE

friendOE

eveningOE

evenlinglOE

even-nexta1225

compeerc1275

monec1300

companiona1325

partnerc1330

peerc1330

neighbour?c1335

falec1380

matec1380

makec1385

companya1425

sociatec1430

marrow1440

partyc1443

customera1450

conferec1450

pareil?c1450

comparcionerc1475

resortc1475

socius1480

copartner?1504

billy?a1513

accomplice1550

panion1553

consorterc1556

compartner1564

co-mate1576

copemate1577

competitor1579

consociate1579

coach-companion1589

comrade1591

consort1592

callant1597

comrado1598

associate1601

coach-fellow1602

rival1604

social1604

concomitanta1639

concerner1639

consociator1646

compane1647

societary1652

bor1677

socius1678

interessora1687

companioness1691

rendezvouser1742

connection1780

frater1786

matey1794

pardner1795

left bower1829

running mate1867

stable companion1868

pard1872

buddy1895

maat1900

bro1922

stable-mate1941

bredda1969

Ndugu1973

society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [noun] > wife

wifeeOE

womanc1275

peerc1330

spousessc1384

ladyc1390

good lady1502

girl?a1513

spousage1513

little lady1523

the weaker vessel1526

companion1535

wedlock1566

Mrs1572

dame1574

rib?1590

feme1595

fathom1602

feme covert1602

shrew1606

wife of one's bosom1611

kickie-wickiea1616

heifer1616

sposa1624

bosom-partner1633

goodwife1654

little woman1715

squaw1767

the Mrs1821

missus1823

maw1826

lady wife1840

tart1864

mistress1873

mama1916

ball and chain1921

trouble and strife1929

old boot1958

c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) 215 (MED) Þan bispac to him a baroun..‘Whiles þou were in oure þrome No were we neuer ouercome, Þat we forlorn at þis asaut Al we wite it þi defaut—So siggeþ al our pers.’

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xi. 16 It is lichi to children sittynge in cheepynge, the whiche, cryinge to her peeris, seien, ‘We han sungen to ȝou, and ȝe han nat lippid.’

?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 105 (MED) Malde þe quene, his pere, in God scho did endyng.

1467–8 in Hist. MSS Comm.: 10th Rep.: App. Pt. V: MSS Marquis of Ormonde &c. (1885) 304 in Parl. Papers (C. 4576-I) XLII. 1 Every Maire and Maires pare..shal have his own voice to thelection of the Maire.

a1500 (a1450) tr. Secreta Secret. (Ashm. 396) (1977) 84 (MED) Multiplie not to many dispensatours..for euery of them, þurgh þe holdyng of grete company, trusteth to ouercome his peere.

c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 3673 Pollux, the pert kyng, and his pere, Castor..highit to þe se.

1562 A. Scott Poems (1896) i. 198 Thow..wes King Frances pairty maik and peir.

1591 E. Spenser Visions of Worlds Vanitie in Complaints vi An hideous Dragon..Strove with a Spider his unequall peare.

1657 A. Cowley On Death of W. Harvey ii My sweet Companion, and my gentle Peere.

1744 J. Thomson Autumn in Seasons (new ed.) 153 O glorious he, beyond His daring Peers!

a1774 R. Fergusson Poems (1785) 142 The Gowdspink chatters joyous here, And courts wi' gleesome sangs his peer.

1818 J. Keats Endymion iv. 172 To stray away into these forests drear Alone, without a peer.

3. A person of high rank in a country, state, or organization; a noble. In later use frequently contrasted with peasant. Also figurative.In some quots. difficult to distinguish this general sense form the spec. senses of sense A. 4.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > [noun] > person of > man of rank

herOE

man of statec1330

peera1375

man of goodc1390

sira1400

titulado1622

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 3976 (MED) Alle þe lordes of þat lond..& þe best burgeys..& þe pers of spayne..were to prison take.

1415 in W. Hudson Rec. City of Norwich (1906) I. 102 (MED) Whan y^e Meir rydeþ, alle y^t han be Meires shuln ryden in here clokes and y^e toyer pieres in lyuere of suyt.

c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 2036 (MED) Þar he findis A duke of Darys þe kyng..A pere out of Persy & prince of his ost.

a1500 (?c1450) Bone Florence (1976) 233 (MED) Go we to owre councell, perys..To loke what beste ys for to doo.

1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Heb. xii. f. xxv An vnnumerable syght of angels the heade peares & inhabitauntes thereof.

c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxviii. 82 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 80 Egipts greate peeres with homage shall attend.

1607 J. Pelling Serm. Providence of God 14 Countries abroade [are governed] by the Peeres of the Land.

1665 M. Nedham Medela Medicinæ 21 Summoning all the Peers of the Faculty to a solemn Assembly.

1701 D. Defoe True-born Englishman i. 6 Pride, the First Peer, and President of Hell.

1781 W. Hayley Triumphs of Temper ii. 130 As the French boudoir to the Gothic tower, Such is the peer, whom fashion much admires, Compar'd in person to his ancient sires.

1846 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 60 62 The national gaming-table was open to men of every class. Peer and peasant..were alike entitled to figure as allottees.

1906 Westm. Gaz. 16 Aug. 2/3 No Imperial fortress-castle is strong enough to Germanise the vast plains where peer and peasant alike are still passionately Polish.

4. spec.

a. A member of a rank of hereditary nobility in Britain or Ireland; a duke, marquess, earl, viscount, or baron. Also: a person elevated to the peerage for life, without hereditary rights; = life peer n. Also occasionally: = peeress in her own right at peeress n.In the British peerage, earldoms and baronies were developed from titles in the Anglo-Saxon and Norman feudal systems (see baron n. 2, earl n. 3); dukedoms were conferred from 1337, marquessates from 1385, and viscountcies from 1440 (cf. also baronet n.). Such peerages are hereditary, although non-hereditary life peerages, conferring the right to a seat in the House of Lords, have been created since 1876 in the case of judicial Lords of Appeal, and since 1958 more generally. By a declaration of the House of Lords in 1692, archbishops and bishops are Lords of Parliament, not peers.There are three classes of hereditary peers: peers of the United Kingdom (also called peers of the realm, up to 1707 called peers of England, and from 1707–1801 called peers of Great Britain), all of whom, unless specifically disqualified, were (until 1999) entitled to a seat in the House of Lords, exempt from jury service, and debarred from election (and from voting in elections) to the House of Commons; peers of Scotland, all of whom were (until 1999) entitled to a seat in the House of Lords after the Peerage Act of 1963 (previously sixteen were elected to each Parliament as representative members under the Act of Union 1707); and peers of Ireland, who no longer have the right to sit in the House of Lords, but who may be elected to the House of Commons (previously twenty-eight representatives were elected as life members under the Act of Union 1800). The House of Lords Act 1999 provided for hereditary peers to elect ninety-two of their number to take seats in the House of Lords alongside the life peers, pending further reforms.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > peer or lord of parliament > whose title lapses at death

life peer1791

peer1869

lifer1893

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 3337 (MED) If..thou to me were of parage, And that thi fader were a Pier, As he is now a Bachilier..Thou scholdest thanne be my wif.

?c1430 (?1382) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 514 (MED) Oure kyng haþ don so..by counsail of pieres of þe rewme.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) viii. l. 15 Thai..Besocht him fair as a peyr off the land To cum and tak sum gouernaill on hand.

1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Richard II. 5 The Piers and Lordes that did his cause uphold.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iv. vii. 117 The proudest Peere in the Realme, shall not weare a head on his shoulders, vnlesse he pay me tribute.

1654 R. Vilvain tr. Enchiridium Epigr. ii. i. 26 Kings rule is good, wors the Peers optimacy.

1660 S. Pepys Diary 2 June (1970) I. 167 Now to sit in the House of Peeres.

1697 J. Vanbrugh Relapse 10 I have brought your Lordship as accomplisht a Suit of Cloaths, as ever Peer of England trode the Stage in.

1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) iii. iii. 276 All Peers of the Realm being look'd on as the King's Hereditary constant Counsellors.

1788 Ld. Bulkeley Let. 27 Dec. in Duke of Buckingham Mem. Court & Cabinets George III (1853) II. 79 The rat Peers were Duke of Queensbury, Marquis of Lothian, Bishop Watson, Lord Malmesbury..and Lord Huntingdon.

1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey I. ii. ix. 140 The neighbouring peer, full of grace and gravity.

1869 Earl Russell in Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. 195 454 That a great number of life Peers may be created.

1900 Whitaker's Almanack 120 The House of Lords..consists of the Spiritual Lords of England..the Temporal Peers of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, and, in addition, 16 Hereditary Peers of Scotland selected to each Parliament, and 28 Hereditary or created Peers of Ireland elected for life.

1974 Observer 24 Mar. (Colour Suppl.) 30/1 ‘We are very passionate that we are not peeresses; peeresses are the wives of peers’... Now lavatories are discreetly marked ‘Peers’ and ‘Women Peers’.

1997 Times Higher Educ. Suppl. 12 Dec. 12/4 Peers have already rushed to defend Oxbridge college fees.

b. French History (a) Each of the twelve peers of France (see douzepers n.); (b) a person possessing a territory set up as a lordship, and having the right to a seat in the Parliament of Paris; (c) a member of the Upper Legislative Chamber (1814–48).

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > peer or lord of parliament

baronc1200

peer1488

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > peer or lord of parliament > who possessed territory in France

peer1488

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > peer or lord of parliament > who possessed territory in France > body of peers in France > one of peers of France

douzepersc1275

peer1488

paladin1592

society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > other national governing or legislative bodies > [noun] > specifically in France > member of

director1798

peer1848

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 925 The perys off France was still at thar parlement.

1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xx. 453 Rowlande was a ferde for his vncle charlemagn..wherfor he went anone nyghe hym, and soo dyde oliver, ogyer, & all the xii peres.

a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. clv. f. lxxxiiii [Charles Martel] chase .xii. Perys, which after some wryters are callyd dozeperys.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Pair La Cour des Pairs,..the Parliament of Paris wherein the Peeres of France may sit as Assistants.

1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 178 The Twelve Peeres of France have the precedence before all the rest of the Nobility... Of these Peeres, there be six of the Clergie.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The Title Peer in France is bestowed..on every Lord or Person, whose Fee is erected into a Lordship or Peership.

1808 W. Scott Marmion vi. xxxiv. 367 When Rowland brave, and Olivier, And every paladin and peer, On Roncesvalles died!

1848 W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc Hist. Ten Years I. 131 Measures..directly opposed to the constitutional charter, to the constitutional rights of the chamber of peers, to the laws of the French.

1906 Westm. Gaz. 27 Sept. 1/3 The Dukedom had existed since 1707, and in 1814, on the restoration of the Bourbons, the then Duke was made a ‘Peer of France’.

2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 15 Nov. 50/2 The true nobility of France, and its rightful governors, were the ducs-et-pairs (dukes who were also peers of France and entitled to sit in the Parlement).

c. Greek History. A member of that class of citizens of Sparta who had an equal right to hold state offices.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > native or inhabitant of ancient or medieval Europe > ancient Greeks and neighbours > [noun] > native or inhabitant of states, regions, or cities > specific types of citizen

peer1838

cleruch1847

isoteles1850

1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) IV. 373 All who were unable to defray this expense, were..degraded into a lower class, from the rank of Peers to that of Inferiors, or Commoners.

1852 G. Grote Hist. Greece IX. ii. lxxiii. 344 A Spartan citizen, but not one of that select number called The Equals or The Peers.

1957 Jrnl. Rom. Stud. 47 250 It [sc. community] will encourage development of the personality on the one side..we may detect likeness as well as dissimilarity in the Egyptian hermit and the Spartan peer.

B. adj.

Equal (to). Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > [adjective] > equal or on the same level

peera1325

paregalc1390

meeta1425

champian1642

fere for fere1768

a1325 St. Blaise (Corpus Cambr.) 148 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 52 (MED) Do mid mi bodi wat þou wolt on wan þou hast poer, For of mi soule nastou non, for hi ne beþ noȝt per.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 49 Asia is most in quantite, Europa is lasse, and pere [?a1475 anon. tr. egalle; 1482 Caxton lyke; L. par] in noumbre of peple.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 221 Suche a false errour is..þat eny mater is euene and peere [?a1475 anon. tr. egalle; L. æquatur] to God.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 450 (MED) To godd self wald he be pere.

c1475 (a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 334 (MED) A frere þat is a confessour to kyng or to a duke is ympe or pere to a bishop.

1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 53 Ȝour strength to thairis on na way mycht be peir.

1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 23 He is Peer to the great Lords of the Countrey.

1833 A. Domett Poems 206 Why thy lone Star of Sound, why art gemming the mute obscure With thy single point of Light? What is peer to thy beautiful loneness?

1881 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 296 More than one artist whose hand has not been peer to his feeling.

1908 R. W. Gilder Poems 216 Not the fairest of the fair Could with this sweet bloom compare; Nor would all their shining be Peer to its lone bravery.

Compounds

C1.

a. Used appositively in the sense ‘that is a peer’ (sense A. 4a), as peer-actor, peer-mayor, etc.

ΚΠ

1693 G. Stepney tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires viii. 161 A Peer-Actor [L. mimusnobilis] is no monstrous thing, Since Rome has own'd a Fidler for a King.

1889 Daily News 31 Jan. 3/6 Their peer critic had expressed his willingness [etc.].

1896 Westm. Gaz. 11 Aug. 1/3 The fashion of Peer Mayors..delights provincial townsfolk and their womenkind.

1901 Daily Tel. 8 July 11/4 Lord Cardigan was the first peer-prisoner to be defended by members of the Bar.

b. (Sense A. 4a.)

(a)

peer-maker n.

ΚΠ

1872 J. McCarthy Mod. Leaders 14 Sir Robert Peel the present, the magni nominis umbra, is not, of course, in the strict sense, an aristocrat; but he is mixed up with aristocrats, and is the son of a Peer-maker.

1922 Times 16 Nov. 9/4 Mr. Lloyd George..is not only pre-eminent as peer-maker, but he may fairly be described as having been most profuse in the distribution of honours.

peer-making n.

ΚΠ

1831 S. Smith Let. 2 Oct. (1953) II. 542 Lord Grey will have recourse to Peer-making.

1900 Westm. Gaz. 29 May 2/2 Peer making used to be considered a dearly cherished prerogative of the Crown.

1998 Independent (Nexis) 15 Oct. 3 The old Labour lords, most of them the product of two periods of frantic Labour peer-making.

(b)

peer-ridden adj.

ΚΠ

1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. iii. 74 What chance was there of reason being heard in a land that was king-ridden, priest-ridden, peer-ridden—where a lunatic was the nominal monarch, an unprincipled debauchee the real ruler.

1910 Daily Chron. 13 Apr. 1/5 The prospective victims of Protection, have given..most generously to ‘The Daily Chronicle’ fund, which will help to keep their food untaxed and to save the country from peer-ridden government.

c. (Sense A. 1c.)

peer contact n.

ΚΠ

1957 J. A. Kahl Amer. Class Structure x. 288 If a boy was not good at sports, if he did not have close and satisfying peer contacts, [etc.].

1993 M. Sebba London Jamaican (BNC) 39 Even white children may learn some Creole in primary school, through peer contact.

peer culture n.

ΚΠ

1944 C. M. Tryon in Nat. Soc. Study Educ. Yearbk. (U.S.) i. xii. 233 Although in meeting some adult standards girls must undergo less change than boys, in their relation to their own peer culture they must often be more adaptive.

1997 R. K. Sawyer Pretend Play as Improvisation iii. 55 After a few weeks in the classroom, patterns of play and peer culture began to emerge. I began to notice who liked to play together.

peer perception n.

ΚΠ

1961 Sociometry 24 19 In assessments of patterns of stability and change in peer perceptions and relationships, reputation showed more stability over time than did behavior.

2000 J. N. Cleveland et al. Women & Men in Organizations x. 267 Peer perceptions, too, are critical, as peers may be concerned that a cross-gender mentoring relationship will become sexual.

peer relationship n.

ΚΠ

1944 G. N. Mackenzie in N. B. Henry Adolescence xvi. 323 The development of satisfying peer relationships with those of the same and the opposite sex is a developmental problem with which adolescents are very much preoccupied.

1994 Bottom Line 1 Sept. 14/2 The trick to building strong peer relationships is reciprocity.

peer structure n.

ΚΠ

1966 Admin. Sci. Q. 453 Since members of the peer structure interact in more than one task area, the character of influence is the same, but effectiveness changes.

1986 Sociol. of Educ. 60 412 Professional self-regulation is dependent upon a well-developed peer structure.

C2.

peer group n. a group of people, esp. adolescents, of the same age, social status, or interests.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > one's social equal(s) > group

peer group1943

1943 M. E. Breckenridge & E. L. Vincent Child Devel. xiii. 463 Although the adolescent declares his independence of adult standards and controls, he is actually very dependent upon conformity with his peer group.

1965 Jrnl. Social Psychol. 66 73 (heading) Differences in general persuasibility to peer group pressure between Catholic High School and Public High School students.

1994 Today's Parent Oct. 114/2 There is a real difference..in the way toddlers play with their peer group and how they play with family members.

peer pressure n. influence from members of one's peer group.

ΚΠ

1957 R. Strang Adolescent Views Himself ii. 59 Peer pressure was all on the side of obedience to authority.

1997 Independent 24 Mar. i. 17/2 It really is peer pressure that enforces it. If you are in a Quiet Carriage and someone's phone does go off, people jump up and rush for the door looking extremely guilty.

Derivatives

ˈpeerhood n. the condition of being a peer.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > peer or lord of parliament > rank or condition of peer

peership1577

peerdom1603

peerage1648

peerhood1869

1869 H. Bushnell Women's Suffrage v. 89 They will conquer, in this manner, a new sphere and platform of life, where they will at least be in peerhood with men.

1888 Sat. Rev. 9 June 704 His flourishing period of poethood and peerhood when Louis Philippe was king.

1988 Polit. Theory 16 24 Antigone, whose sisterly motives lie at the very boundary of the female and threaten to cross into the equality of perfect, asexual peerhood.

ˈpeerish adj. of or relating to a peer.

ΘΚΠ

society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [adjective] > lordly or relating to a lord > that is a peer > relating to a peer

peerisha1734

a1734 R. North Examen (1740) i. ii. §141. 109 Any other Peer..might have been taken and made a Peerish Example of.

1839 Times 4 Mar. 5/6 If its [sc. the Chamber of Peers'] rejuvenescence is required, new ‘peerish’ blood is transfused into its veins.

1997 Guardian (Nexis) 23 Dec. 13 I was present when another signed his grandly peerish name, Bloggs of Blagdon.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	peer
释义	peern.adj. Brit. /pɪə/, U.S. /pɪ(ə)r/ Forms: Middle English pare, Middle English per, Middle English peree, Middle English perle (transmission error), Middle English peyr, Middle English peyre, Middle English pir, Middle English prere (transmission error), Middle English pyer, Middle English pyere, Middle English pyre, Middle English–1500s pere, Middle English–1500s pier, Middle English–1600s peere, Middle English–1600s piere, Middle English–1700s peir, Middle English– peer, late Middle English pear- (in a late copy, in compounds), 1500s–1600s peare; Scottish pre-1700 pear, pre-1700 peeir, pre-1700 peir, pre-1700 peire, pre-1700 pere, pre-1700 peyr, pre-1700 peyre, pre-1700 pier, pre-1700 1700s– peer. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French per. Etymology: < Anglo-Norman per, paar, paer, paire, peer, pere, perre, piere equal (12th cent. or earlier; also as adjective (13th cent. or earlier)), match (12th cent. or earlier), companion, spouse (13th cent. or earlier), peer of the realm (14th cent. or earlier), and Old French per, peer (c1050 in sense ‘equal’, c1100 in sense ‘one of the twelve peers of France’ (compare douzepers n.), 13th cent. in sense ‘person possessing a territory set up as a lordship and having the right to a seat in the Parliament of Paris’; Middle French, French pair ; also as adjective in sense ‘equal’ (c980 in Old French)) < classical Latin pār equal (see par n.¹), also as noun, a person of equal rank, a mate, partner, adversary, in post-classical Latin also a person of equal legal status (frequently 1086–1315 in British sources), a noble (frequently from early 12th cent. in British and continental sources). Compare Old Occitan par , adjective and noun, Spanish par (1220–50 as adjective and noun), Italian pari (a1250 as noun; attested earlier as adjective as pare (late 12th cent.)), Portuguese par (13th cent. as adjective and noun). Compare earlier douzepers n.With peers of the realm (see sense A. 4a) compare post-classical Latin pares regni (frequently 1339–1568 in British sources), and the following examples of Anglo-Norman piers de la terre :1321–2 Act 15 Edw. II Nous piers de la terre, Countes & Barouns, en la presence notre Seigneur le Roi, agardoms que Sir Hugh le Despenser le fitz et Sir Hugh le Despenser le piere soient desheriteez.1332 Rolls of Parl. II. 68/2 Le Seigneur de Wake & autres Pierres de la terre. In sense A. 4c reflecting ancient Greek ὅμοιοι , use as noun of masculine plural of ὅμοιος the same, equal, of the same rank (see homoeo- comb. form). Earlier currency is perhaps implied by surnames, as Osbert Pere (1230), William le Per (1271), Richard le Pere (1279), etc., although it is unclear whether these are to be interpreted as reflecting the Middle English or the Anglo-Norman word. A. n. 1. a. A person of the same civil or ecclesiastical status or rank as the person in question; an equal before the law. Frequently with possessive adjective and in plural. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > one's social equal(s) > specifically before the law peerc1300 c1300 St. Katherine (Harl.) 213 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S.-Eng. Legendary (1956) 540 (MED) Þench on þi noble gentrise..Turn þi þoȝt, & þu schalt beo þemperesse peer; Heo neschal habbe noȝt tofore þe, bote þat heo is mi fer. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) vii. 2461 (MED) He goth him up, and be his side He set him doun, as pier and pier. c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. ix. 14 (MED) Dobest is aboue bothe a bisschopes pere. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 5614 (MED) Þe bald kyng..Nabizanda was named..a noble kniȝt, Was ane þe proudest of his pirs. a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 89 (MED) Þe very pacient takiþ non hede wheþir he suffre of his prelate or of his piere, or of his lower. 1560 in J. A. Picton City of Liverpool: Select. Munic. Rec. (1883) (modernized text) I. 33 Every Mayor and Mayors peer. 1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) ii. xi. 184/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I When soeuer anie of the nobilitie are conuicted of high treason by their peeres, that is to saie, equals. 1660 R. Coke Justice Vindicated 16 Nor must Strafford suffer by an ordinary way of judicature by his peers,..he must die by Act of Parliament. 1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. xii. 403 As the lords, though different in rank, yet all of them are peers in respect of their nobility, so the Commoners..all are in law peers, in respect of their want of nobility. 1808 W. Scott Marmion i. xxix. 50 He..strode across the hall of state, And fronted Marmion where he sate, As he his peer had been. 1877 M. Oliphant Makers of Florence (ed. 2) iii. 79 The sacred chain of friendship links together those who are unequal in rank as well as those who are each other's peers. 1896 U.S. Rep. (Supreme Court) 163 559 In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. 1901 Law Rep.: Appeal Cases 447 Arrangements were then made for the trial of Earl Russell before his Peers in the Royal Gallery. 1990 D. M. Walker Legal Hist. Scotl. II. 497 The claim that a man should be tried only by his peers..was widely recognised in the feudal systems of Europe. b. A person who equals another in natural gifts, ability, or achievements; the equal in any respect of a person or thing. without peer: unequalled, unrivalled. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > [noun] > equal, counterpart, or equivalent > person headlingOE peerc1300 evena1393 ferea1400 matchc1400 paregalc1425 paragon1557 equal1573 coequal1577 perequala1578 copartner1591 corrivala1592 c1300 St. Martin (Laud) 166 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 453 (MED) Seint Martin was apostlene pier, for þe holie gost a-liȝhte In him ase in þe Apostles. c1375 G. Chaucer Monk's Tale 3244 O..Sampsoun..Had thow nat toold to wommen thy secree, In al this world ne hadde been thy peere. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 12720 (MED) Sant iohn was messagere þat had of halines na peer. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll.) 934 I know well thou haste nat thy pere of ony erthly synfull man. 1481 W. Caxton tr. Siege & Conqueste Jerusalem (1893) clxiv. 242 He had moche leyd doun his pryde..he wende to haue faughten peer to peer. a1500 in F. J. Furnivall Polit., Relig., & Love Poems (1903) 113 (MED) Heyle, blasyng starre, withowte peere. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ecclus. vi. 15 A faithfull frende hath no peare. a1682 Sir T. Browne Christian Morals (1716) i. 43 Fidelity, Bounty, and generous Honesty..wherein..the true Heroick English Gentleman hath no Peer. 1740 S. Richardson Pamela (1824) I. xxiii. 34 Troth, sir, said he,..I never knew her peer. a1774 R. Fergusson Poems Var. Subj. (1779) 56 Say, ye red gowns!..Gin ere thir days hae had their peer. 1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. ii. 491 Ulysses..Jove's peer in wisdom. 1823 J. Galt Ringan Gilhaize I. ii. 23 I think na ye're just a peer to Sir Davie, that you need to ettle at coping with his braw mare. 1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. lxxiv. 607 Some of those men were the peers of the best European statesmen of the time. 1908 Daily Chron. 29 July 1/6 Goodwood has no peer in the season's social entertainments. 1926 Travel Nov. 16/1 As a handler of stock he [sc. the gaucho] is possibly the peer of a Queensland drover. 1990 T. Cunliffe Easy on Helm vi. 51 The roller-furling genoa may leave something to be desired in terms of set.., but as a boat-handling tool it is without peer. c. Originally Cultural Anthropology and Sociology. A member of the same age group or social set; a contemporary. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > one's social equal(s) fellowc1225 compeera1400 evenhead?a1400 checkmate?1504 comparec1540 mate1563 collateral1623 assessor1667 grade1827 Jones1879 peer1940 1940 Jrnl. Educ. Sociol. 14 210 Children bring to their group experiences with peers a set attitude toward or against the roles which they have held at home. 1966 Listener 14 Apr. 535/2 With their peers—that is, people of the same age, sex, and status—adolescents really experience for the first time relationships embodying equality and democracy. 1972 Jrnl. Social Psychol. 86 111 A subject receiving positive evaluations from a group of his peers was more active in the group. 1992 N.Y. Times 20 Oct. c8/2 The juvenile rat tried to play with the helpless little rodent blobs,..trying to wrestle with them just as it would with a peer. d. Computing. A computer or other device that is connected to a network. Cf. peer-to-peer adj. ΚΠ 1981 Computer Communication Rev. (Electronic text) 11 250/2 At time t0 one peer..begins to send a PDU to the other. 1996 K. Hafner & M. Lyon When Wizards stay up Late (1998) vi. 174 FTP was the first application to permit two machines to cooperate as peers instead of treating one as a terminal to the other. 2001 Wired Sept. 161/2 It wasn't until my PDA joined my home network as an unlimited-use peer that it felt like a genuinely useful appliance. 2009 J.-N. Hwang Multimedia Networking vii. 242 The new peer connects to the tracker to register its information and get from the tracker an initial list of..active peers which contain the requested file. †2. A person who is associated or matched with another; a companion, a fellow, a mate; a rival. Frequently with possessive adjective. Obsolete.In quot. ?a1400: a wife. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a companion or associate > [noun] yferec870 brothereOE ymonec950 headlingOE ferec975 fellowOE friendOE eveningOE evenlinglOE even-nexta1225 compeerc1275 monec1300 companiona1325 partnerc1330 peerc1330 neighbour?c1335 falec1380 matec1380 makec1385 companya1425 sociatec1430 marrow1440 partyc1443 customera1450 conferec1450 pareil?c1450 comparcionerc1475 resortc1475 socius1480 copartner?1504 billy?a1513 accomplice1550 panion1553 consorterc1556 compartner1564 co-mate1576 copemate1577 competitor1579 consociate1579 coach-companion1589 comrade1591 consort1592 callant1597 comrado1598 associate1601 coach-fellow1602 rival1604 social1604 concomitanta1639 concerner1639 consociator1646 compane1647 societary1652 bor1677 socius1678 interessora1687 companioness1691 rendezvouser1742 connection1780 frater1786 matey1794 pardner1795 left bower1829 running mate1867 stable companion1868 pard1872 buddy1895 maat1900 bro1922 stable-mate1941 bredda1969 Ndugu1973 society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > married person > married woman > [noun] > wife wifeeOE womanc1275 peerc1330 spousessc1384 ladyc1390 good lady1502 girl?a1513 spousage1513 little lady1523 the weaker vessel1526 companion1535 wedlock1566 Mrs1572 dame1574 rib?1590 feme1595 fathom1602 feme covert1602 shrew1606 wife of one's bosom1611 kickie-wickiea1616 heifer1616 sposa1624 bosom-partner1633 goodwife1654 little woman1715 squaw1767 the Mrs1821 missus1823 maw1826 lady wife1840 tart1864 mistress1873 mama1916 ball and chain1921 trouble and strife1929 old boot1958 c1330 (?a1300) Arthour & Merlin (Auch.) (1973) 215 (MED) Þan bispac to him a baroun..‘Whiles þou were in oure þrome No were we neuer ouercome, Þat we forlorn at þis asaut Al we wite it þi defaut—So siggeþ al our pers.’ c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xi. 16 It is lichi to children sittynge in cheepynge, the whiche, cryinge to her peeris, seien, ‘We han sungen to ȝou, and ȝe han nat lippid.’ ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 105 (MED) Malde þe quene, his pere, in God scho did endyng. 1467–8 in Hist. MSS Comm.: 10th Rep.: App. Pt. V: MSS Marquis of Ormonde &c. (1885) 304 in Parl. Papers (C. 4576-I) XLII. 1 Every Maire and Maires pare..shal have his own voice to thelection of the Maire. a1500 (a1450) tr. Secreta Secret. (Ashm. 396) (1977) 84 (MED) Multiplie not to many dispensatours..for euery of them, þurgh þe holdyng of grete company, trusteth to ouercome his peere. c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 3673 Pollux, the pert kyng, and his pere, Castor..highit to þe se. 1562 A. Scott Poems (1896) i. 198 Thow..wes King Frances pairty maik and peir. 1591 E. Spenser Visions of Worlds Vanitie in Complaints vi An hideous Dragon..Strove with a Spider his unequall peare. 1657 A. Cowley On Death of W. Harvey ii My sweet Companion, and my gentle Peere. 1744 J. Thomson Autumn in Seasons (new ed.) 153 O glorious he, beyond His daring Peers! a1774 R. Fergusson Poems (1785) 142 The Gowdspink chatters joyous here, And courts wi' gleesome sangs his peer. 1818 J. Keats Endymion iv. 172 To stray away into these forests drear Alone, without a peer. 3. A person of high rank in a country, state, or organization; a noble. In later use frequently contrasted with peasant. Also figurative.In some quots. difficult to distinguish this general sense form the spec. senses of sense A. 4. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > [noun] > person of > man of rank herOE man of statec1330 peera1375 man of goodc1390 sira1400 titulado1622 a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) 3976 (MED) Alle þe lordes of þat lond..& þe best burgeys..& þe pers of spayne..were to prison take. 1415 in W. Hudson Rec. City of Norwich (1906) I. 102 (MED) Whan y^e Meir rydeþ, alle y^t han be Meires shuln ryden in here clokes and y^e toyer pieres in lyuere of suyt. c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 2036 (MED) Þar he findis A duke of Darys þe kyng..A pere out of Persy & prince of his ost. a1500 (?c1450) Bone Florence (1976) 233 (MED) Go we to owre councell, perys..To loke what beste ys for to doo. 1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. Heb. xii. f. xxv An vnnumerable syght of angels the heade peares & inhabitauntes thereof. c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme lxviii. 82 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 80 Egipts greate peeres with homage shall attend. 1607 J. Pelling Serm. Providence of God 14 Countries abroade [are governed] by the Peeres of the Land. 1665 M. Nedham Medela Medicinæ 21 Summoning all the Peers of the Faculty to a solemn Assembly. 1701 D. Defoe True-born Englishman i. 6 Pride, the First Peer, and President of Hell. 1781 W. Hayley Triumphs of Temper ii. 130 As the French boudoir to the Gothic tower, Such is the peer, whom fashion much admires, Compar'd in person to his ancient sires. 1846 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 60 62 The national gaming-table was open to men of every class. Peer and peasant..were alike entitled to figure as allottees. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 16 Aug. 2/3 No Imperial fortress-castle is strong enough to Germanise the vast plains where peer and peasant alike are still passionately Polish. 4. spec. a. A member of a rank of hereditary nobility in Britain or Ireland; a duke, marquess, earl, viscount, or baron. Also: a person elevated to the peerage for life, without hereditary rights; = life peer n. Also occasionally: = peeress in her own right at peeress n.In the British peerage, earldoms and baronies were developed from titles in the Anglo-Saxon and Norman feudal systems (see baron n. 2, earl n. 3); dukedoms were conferred from 1337, marquessates from 1385, and viscountcies from 1440 (cf. also baronet n.). Such peerages are hereditary, although non-hereditary life peerages, conferring the right to a seat in the House of Lords, have been created since 1876 in the case of judicial Lords of Appeal, and since 1958 more generally. By a declaration of the House of Lords in 1692, archbishops and bishops are Lords of Parliament, not peers.There are three classes of hereditary peers: peers of the United Kingdom (also called peers of the realm, up to 1707 called peers of England, and from 1707–1801 called peers of Great Britain), all of whom, unless specifically disqualified, were (until 1999) entitled to a seat in the House of Lords, exempt from jury service, and debarred from election (and from voting in elections) to the House of Commons; peers of Scotland, all of whom were (until 1999) entitled to a seat in the House of Lords after the Peerage Act of 1963 (previously sixteen were elected to each Parliament as representative members under the Act of Union 1707); and peers of Ireland, who no longer have the right to sit in the House of Lords, but who may be elected to the House of Commons (previously twenty-eight representatives were elected as life members under the Act of Union 1800). The House of Lords Act 1999 provided for hereditary peers to elect ninety-two of their number to take seats in the House of Lords alongside the life peers, pending further reforms. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > peer or lord of parliament > whose title lapses at death life peer1791 peer1869 lifer1893 a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) i. 3337 (MED) If..thou to me were of parage, And that thi fader were a Pier, As he is now a Bachilier..Thou scholdest thanne be my wif. ?c1430 (?1382) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 514 (MED) Oure kyng haþ don so..by counsail of pieres of þe rewme. 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) viii. l. 15 Thai..Besocht him fair as a peyr off the land To cum and tak sum gouernaill on hand. 1559 W. Baldwin et al. Myrroure for Magistrates Richard II. 5 The Piers and Lordes that did his cause uphold. a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iv. vii. 117 The proudest Peere in the Realme, shall not weare a head on his shoulders, vnlesse he pay me tribute. View more context for this quotation 1654 R. Vilvain tr. Enchiridium Epigr. ii. i. 26 Kings rule is good, wors the Peers optimacy. 1660 S. Pepys Diary 2 June (1970) I. 167 Now to sit in the House of Peeres. 1697 J. Vanbrugh Relapse 10 I have brought your Lordship as accomplisht a Suit of Cloaths, as ever Peer of England trode the Stage in. 1707 J. Chamberlayne Angliæ Notitia (ed. 22) iii. iii. 276 All Peers of the Realm being look'd on as the King's Hereditary constant Counsellors. 1788 Ld. Bulkeley Let. 27 Dec. in Duke of Buckingham Mem. Court & Cabinets George III (1853) II. 79 The rat Peers were Duke of Queensbury, Marquis of Lothian, Bishop Watson, Lord Malmesbury..and Lord Huntingdon. 1826 B. Disraeli Vivian Grey I. ii. ix. 140 The neighbouring peer, full of grace and gravity. 1869 Earl Russell in Parl. Deb. 3rd Ser. 195 454 That a great number of life Peers may be created. 1900 Whitaker's Almanack 120 The House of Lords..consists of the Spiritual Lords of England..the Temporal Peers of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom, and, in addition, 16 Hereditary Peers of Scotland selected to each Parliament, and 28 Hereditary or created Peers of Ireland elected for life. 1974 Observer 24 Mar. (Colour Suppl.) 30/1 ‘We are very passionate that we are not peeresses; peeresses are the wives of peers’... Now lavatories are discreetly marked ‘Peers’ and ‘Women Peers’. 1997 Times Higher Educ. Suppl. 12 Dec. 12/4 Peers have already rushed to defend Oxbridge college fees. b. French History (a) Each of the twelve peers of France (see douzepers n.); (b) a person possessing a territory set up as a lordship, and having the right to a seat in the Parliament of Paris; (c) a member of the Upper Legislative Chamber (1814–48). ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > peer or lord of parliament baronc1200 peer1488 society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > peer or lord of parliament > who possessed territory in France peer1488 society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > peer or lord of parliament > who possessed territory in France > body of peers in France > one of peers of France douzepersc1275 peer1488 paladin1592 society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > other national governing or legislative bodies > [noun] > specifically in France > member of director1798 peer1848 1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) xi. l. 925 The perys off France was still at thar parlement. 1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xx. 453 Rowlande was a ferde for his vncle charlemagn..wherfor he went anone nyghe hym, and soo dyde oliver, ogyer, & all the xii peres. a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. clv. f. lxxxiiii [Charles Martel] chase .xii. Perys, which after some wryters are callyd dozeperys. 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Pair La Cour des Pairs,..the Parliament of Paris wherein the Peeres of France may sit as Assistants. 1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 178 The Twelve Peeres of France have the precedence before all the rest of the Nobility... Of these Peeres, there be six of the Clergie. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) The Title Peer in France is bestowed..on every Lord or Person, whose Fee is erected into a Lordship or Peership. 1808 W. Scott Marmion vi. xxxiv. 367 When Rowland brave, and Olivier, And every paladin and peer, On Roncesvalles died! 1848 W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc Hist. Ten Years I. 131 Measures..directly opposed to the constitutional charter, to the constitutional rights of the chamber of peers, to the laws of the French. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 27 Sept. 1/3 The Dukedom had existed since 1707, and in 1814, on the restoration of the Bourbons, the then Duke was made a ‘Peer of France’. 2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 15 Nov. 50/2 The true nobility of France, and its rightful governors, were the ducs-et-pairs (dukes who were also peers of France and entitled to sit in the Parlement). c. Greek History. A member of that class of citizens of Sparta who had an equal right to hold state offices. ΘΚΠ the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Europe > native or inhabitant of ancient or medieval Europe > ancient Greeks and neighbours > [noun] > native or inhabitant of states, regions, or cities > specific types of citizen peer1838 cleruch1847 isoteles1850 1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) IV. 373 All who were unable to defray this expense, were..degraded into a lower class, from the rank of Peers to that of Inferiors, or Commoners. 1852 G. Grote Hist. Greece IX. ii. lxxiii. 344 A Spartan citizen, but not one of that select number called The Equals or The Peers. 1957 Jrnl. Rom. Stud. 47 250 It [sc. community] will encourage development of the personality on the one side..we may detect likeness as well as dissimilarity in the Egyptian hermit and the Spartan peer. B. adj. Equal (to). Now rare. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > [adjective] > equal or on the same level peera1325 paregalc1390 meeta1425 champian1642 fere for fere1768 a1325 St. Blaise (Corpus Cambr.) 148 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 52 (MED) Do mid mi bodi wat þou wolt on wan þou hast poer, For of mi soule nastou non, for hi ne beþ noȝt per. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 49 Asia is most in quantite, Europa is lasse, and pere [?a1475 anon. tr. egalle; 1482 Caxton lyke; L. par] in noumbre of peple. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 221 Suche a false errour is..þat eny mater is euene and peere [?a1475 anon. tr. egalle; L. æquatur] to God. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 450 (MED) To godd self wald he be pere. c1475 (a1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 334 (MED) A frere þat is a confessour to kyng or to a duke is ympe or pere to a bishop. 1567 R. Sempill in J. Cranstoun Satirical Poems Reformation (1891) I. 53 Ȝour strength to thairis on na way mycht be peir. 1687 A. Lovell tr. J. de Thévenot Trav. into Levant ii. 23 He is Peer to the great Lords of the Countrey. 1833 A. Domett Poems 206 Why thy lone Star of Sound, why art gemming the mute obscure With thy single point of Light? What is peer to thy beautiful loneness? 1881 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 296 More than one artist whose hand has not been peer to his feeling. 1908 R. W. Gilder Poems 216 Not the fairest of the fair Could with this sweet bloom compare; Nor would all their shining be Peer to its lone bravery. Compounds C1. a. Used appositively in the sense ‘that is a peer’ (sense A. 4a), as peer-actor, peer-mayor, etc. ΚΠ 1693 G. Stepney tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires viii. 161 A Peer-Actor [L. mimusnobilis] is no monstrous thing, Since Rome has own'd a Fidler for a King. 1889 Daily News 31 Jan. 3/6 Their peer critic had expressed his willingness [etc.]. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 11 Aug. 1/3 The fashion of Peer Mayors..delights provincial townsfolk and their womenkind. 1901 Daily Tel. 8 July 11/4 Lord Cardigan was the first peer-prisoner to be defended by members of the Bar. b. (Sense A. 4a.) (a) peer-maker n. ΚΠ 1872 J. McCarthy Mod. Leaders 14 Sir Robert Peel the present, the magni nominis umbra, is not, of course, in the strict sense, an aristocrat; but he is mixed up with aristocrats, and is the son of a Peer-maker. 1922 Times 16 Nov. 9/4 Mr. Lloyd George..is not only pre-eminent as peer-maker, but he may fairly be described as having been most profuse in the distribution of honours. peer-making n. ΚΠ 1831 S. Smith Let. 2 Oct. (1953) II. 542 Lord Grey will have recourse to Peer-making. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 29 May 2/2 Peer making used to be considered a dearly cherished prerogative of the Crown. 1998 Independent (Nexis) 15 Oct. 3 The old Labour lords, most of them the product of two periods of frantic Labour peer-making. (b) peer-ridden adj. ΚΠ 1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. iii. 74 What chance was there of reason being heard in a land that was king-ridden, priest-ridden, peer-ridden—where a lunatic was the nominal monarch, an unprincipled debauchee the real ruler. 1910 Daily Chron. 13 Apr. 1/5 The prospective victims of Protection, have given..most generously to ‘The Daily Chronicle’ fund, which will help to keep their food untaxed and to save the country from peer-ridden government. c. (Sense A. 1c.) peer contact n. ΚΠ 1957 J. A. Kahl Amer. Class Structure x. 288 If a boy was not good at sports, if he did not have close and satisfying peer contacts, [etc.]. 1993 M. Sebba London Jamaican (BNC) 39 Even white children may learn some Creole in primary school, through peer contact. peer culture n. ΚΠ 1944 C. M. Tryon in Nat. Soc. Study Educ. Yearbk. (U.S.) i. xii. 233 Although in meeting some adult standards girls must undergo less change than boys, in their relation to their own peer culture they must often be more adaptive. 1997 R. K. Sawyer Pretend Play as Improvisation iii. 55 After a few weeks in the classroom, patterns of play and peer culture began to emerge. I began to notice who liked to play together. peer perception n. ΚΠ 1961 Sociometry 24 19 In assessments of patterns of stability and change in peer perceptions and relationships, reputation showed more stability over time than did behavior. 2000 J. N. Cleveland et al. Women & Men in Organizations x. 267 Peer perceptions, too, are critical, as peers may be concerned that a cross-gender mentoring relationship will become sexual. peer relationship n. ΚΠ 1944 G. N. Mackenzie in N. B. Henry Adolescence xvi. 323 The development of satisfying peer relationships with those of the same and the opposite sex is a developmental problem with which adolescents are very much preoccupied. 1994 Bottom Line 1 Sept. 14/2 The trick to building strong peer relationships is reciprocity. peer structure n. ΚΠ 1966 Admin. Sci. Q. 453 Since members of the peer structure interact in more than one task area, the character of influence is the same, but effectiveness changes. 1986 Sociol. of Educ. 60 412 Professional self-regulation is dependent upon a well-developed peer structure. C2. peer group n. a group of people, esp. adolescents, of the same age, social status, or interests. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > [noun] > one's social equal(s) > group peer group1943 1943 M. E. Breckenridge & E. L. Vincent Child Devel. xiii. 463 Although the adolescent declares his independence of adult standards and controls, he is actually very dependent upon conformity with his peer group. 1965 Jrnl. Social Psychol. 66 73 (heading) Differences in general persuasibility to peer group pressure between Catholic High School and Public High School students. 1994 Today's Parent Oct. 114/2 There is a real difference..in the way toddlers play with their peer group and how they play with family members. peer pressure n. influence from members of one's peer group. ΚΠ 1957 R. Strang Adolescent Views Himself ii. 59 Peer pressure was all on the side of obedience to authority. 1997 Independent 24 Mar. i. 17/2 It really is peer pressure that enforces it. If you are in a Quiet Carriage and someone's phone does go off, people jump up and rush for the door looking extremely guilty. Derivatives ˈpeerhood n. the condition of being a peer. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [noun] > peer or lord of parliament > rank or condition of peer peership1577 peerdom1603 peerage1648 peerhood1869 1869 H. Bushnell Women's Suffrage v. 89 They will conquer, in this manner, a new sphere and platform of life, where they will at least be in peerhood with men. 1888 Sat. Rev. 9 June 704 His flourishing period of poethood and peerhood when Louis Philippe was king. 1988 Polit. Theory 16 24 Antigone, whose sisterly motives lie at the very boundary of the female and threaten to cross into the equality of perfect, asexual peerhood. ˈpeerish adj. of or relating to a peer. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > lord or lady > [adjective] > lordly or relating to a lord > that is a peer > relating to a peer peerisha1734 a1734 R. North Examen (1740) i. ii. §141. 109 Any other Peer..might have been taken and made a Peerish Example of. 1839 Times 4 Mar. 5/6 If its [sc. the Chamber of Peers'] rejuvenescence is required, new ‘peerish’ blood is transfused into its veins. 1997 Guardian (Nexis) 23 Dec. 13 I was present when another signed his grandly peerish name, Bloggs of Blagdon. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). peerv.¹ Brit. /pɪə/, U.S. /pɪ(ə)r/ Forms: Middle English pere, Middle English–1500s peere, 1500s– peer; also Scottish pre-1700 peir, pre-1700 pere. N.E.D. (1904) also records a form Middle English peyre. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: peer n. Etymology: < peer n. Compare Middle French perer to compare, to go hand in hand with, to join (14th cent. in reflexive use). 1. a. intransitive. To be equal to, to rank with. Now Scottish and rare. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > be or become equal [verb (intransitive)] evenOE peerc1400 aperea1450 apparagea1450 likea1450 to make odds evena1616 sharea1616 twin1626 size1639 equalize1906 c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. 410 (MED) Ancres and hermytes and monkes and freres Peren [v.rr. Peeren, Peres; Been peeris] to apostles þorw her parfit lyuynge. c1450 in F. J. Furnivall Hymns to Virgin & Christ (1867) 62 (MED) He wolde haue peerid with god of blis. 1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 147^v Hertford may well with the best peere. 1845 E. Cook Poems 2nd Ser. 8 The Thames of Old England..Could not peer with the mill-streamlet close to my home. 1900 C. Murray Hamewith 59 To compass a bower sae rare, As will peer, I trow, wi' her broad low brow An' her wavin' golden hair. †b. transitive. To equal, to rank with, to match. Obsolete (Scottish in later use). ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > make equal [verb (transitive)] > be equal to or match to be even witheOE match?1529 countervail1530 even1582 suit1583 patterna1586 amate1590 proportionate1590 parallela1594 fellow1596 to hold its level with1598 adequate1599 coequal1599 twin1605 paragonize1606 peer1614 to come upa1616 proportiona1616 paragon1620 parallelize1620 tail1639 to match up to (also with)1958 1614 T. Adams in C. H. Spurgeon Treasury of David (1882) VI. Ps. cxix. 162 Of Homer it is said that none could ever peer him for poetry. 1675 J. Smith Christian Relig. Appeal iii. i. 12 Hybreas the Oratour, in lineaments of Face and whole Body was so peer'd by the sweeper of his School. 1796 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 802 O that's the queen o' womankind, And ne'er a ane to peer her. 1826 M. Howitt Surrey in Captiv. v Young Surrey,—that brave heart That knight~hood might not peer. a1843 J. Stewart Sketches Sc. Char. (1857) p. iii Whaur is the land on earth to peer The land o' Scottish mountaineer? 1863 R. Quinn Heather Lintie (ed. 2) 236 I ance was hafflins charmed before Wi' beauty few coud peer. †2. transitive. To make equal; to class as equal; to put in the same rank or on an equal footing with. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > equality or equivalence > make equal [verb (transitive)] evenOE peerc1480 parifyc1487 fellow?a1513 equate1530 coequal1588 adequate1593 equal1594 parallela1616 parallelize1620 equalize1622 coequalize1634 appariate1652 coextend1656 equalify1679 square1815 c1480 (a1400) St. Mary of Egypt 1312 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 334 To þe quhilk..al þe warld ma nocht be peryd. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) ix. 666 To quhom, in-to gude cheuelry, I dar peir nane. c1610 J. Sylvester Mem. Mortalitie xxxii Man..Presume not yet to peer thee with thy God. a1662 P. Heylyn Aerius Redivivus (1670) 347 Being now Peered with the Lord Chancellor, and the Earl of Essex. †3. transitive. To make (a person) a peer; to raise to the peerage, ennoble. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ society > society and the community > social class > nobility > rank > raising to noble rank > ennoble [verb (transitive)] > invest with rank or title > make into a lord > make into a peer summon1489 peer1753 1753 Dedication on Dedication 11 He was to be peered and pension'd. 1883 Tennyson in H. Tennyson Alfred Ld. Tennyson (1897) II. xv. 300 Her Majesty must decide as to when I am to be peered. 4. intransitive. Computing. With with. To act as a peer (peer n. 1d); (now spec. of an internet service provider) to exchange data directly with another internet service network rather than via an internet backbone. ΚΠ 1987 Re: TN3270 in comp.protocols.tcp-ip (Usenet newsgroup) 3 June Does anyone have any information on numbers and locations of sites peering with each server? Would it help to skew the peering so that sites on the east peered with bbnnet2, and so on, even if it means that the percentages of the total sites each server peers with is unequal? 1995 Wired Jan. 134/2 Ricochets [sc. modems of a certain type] ‘peer’ with other units as pairs or in a local ‘StarMode’ network. 2002 San Diego Union-Tribune (Nexis) 28 Oct. c3 At worst, smaller or cash-strapped Internet providers not peered at several locations with several major networks might experience some outages. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). peerv.² Brit. /pɪə/, U.S. /pɪ(ə)r/, Scottish English /pir/ Forms: Scottish pre-1700 peyr, pre-1700 1700s pere, 1800s– peer; English regional 1800s– peer (southern). Origin: Of unknown origin. Etymology: Origin unknown. Perhaps compare Norwegian regional pira to pour out in a very thin stream, variant of spira (see spire v.¹). Scottish and English regional (southern). transitive. To pour out, esp. in a small trickle. Also intransitive with reflexive meaning. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > liquid > liquid flow > action or fact of pouring or being poured > pour [verb (transitive)] ayetOE yetOE hieldc1200 shed?c1225 pourc1330 peera1522 brew1581 swill1605 sile1787 the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > going or coming out > letting or sending out > let or send out [verb (transitive)] > emit > copiously > in or as in a stream runeOE ayetOE yetOE hieldc1200 pourc1330 bleed1377 spouta1398 wella1398 outyeta1400 wellc1400 effundc1420 streama1425 shed1430 diffude?a1475 skail1513 peera1522 effuse1526 diffuse1541 flow1550 gusha1555 outpoura1560 brew1581 outwell1590 spend1602 spin1610 exfuse1612 guttera1618 effude1634 disembogue1641 profund1657 efflux1669 decant1742 profuse1771 sluice1859 a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vi. iv. 37 The fat oly did he ȝet and peyr [1553 pere] Apon the entralys, to mak thaim byrn cleir. 1710 T. Ruddiman in G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneis (new ed.) Gloss. at Pere We commonly use pour, when greater quantities issue forth; and pere, when the liquor trickles down by drops, or as it were small threeds. 1834 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae lxv, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. May 876 The water peeryin' out amang the lowse stanes. 1863 Mrs. Moncrieff Dream 37 (E.D.D.) She was hindered on peering the flick. 1881 H. Smith & C. R. Smith Isle of Wight Words Peer, to pour out lard. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). peerv.³ Brit. /pɪə/, U.S. /pɪ(ə)r/ Forms: 1500s peare, 1500s piere, 1500s 1700s pier, 1500s–1600s peere, 1500s– peer; also Scottish pre-1700 peere, pre-1700 peir, pre-1700 per, pre-1700 pere, pre-1700 peyr. Origin: Of uncertain origin. Etymology: Origin uncertain; in senses 1a and 1b probably either related to or influenced by association with 'pear v. Perhaps compare peep v.¹In sense 2 perhaps a variant of pire v., although this presents phonological difficulties. 1. a. intransitive. Of an inanimate thing: to appear to be peeping or looking out; to be just visible, esp. from behind something; to protrude a short distance into view. Cf. peep v.¹ 1. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > visibility > be visible [verb (intransitive)] > appear or become visible ariseOE to come in (also to, on, etc.) placec1225 'peara1382 appear1382 kithea1400 to show out?a1425 muster?1435 to come forthc1449 to look outa1470 apparish1483 to show forth1487 come1531 to come out?1548 peer1568 to look through1573 glimpse1596 loom1605 rise1615 emicate1657 emike1657 present1664 opena1691 emerge1700 dawn1744 to come down the pike1812 to open out1813 to crop out1849 unmask1858 to come through1868 to show up1879 to come (etc.) out of thin air1932 surface1961 the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > visibility > be visible [verb (intransitive)] > appear or become visible > slightly beak?c1225 peekc1460 peepa1475 peer1568 glimpse1663 teeta1866 1568 [implied in: T. Howell Arbor of Amitie f. 42^v For little signes are knowne full well, where great affection is. And eke of peering sparke, doth growe a flashing flame. (at peering adj.)]. 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 v. i. 1 How bloudily the sunne begins to peare [1623 peere] Aboue yon bulky hill. View more context for this quotation 1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. i. 116 An houre before the worshipt Sun, Peerde [1597 Peept, 1623 Peer'd] forth the golden window of the East. View more context for this quotation 1607 T. Walkington Optick Glasse sig. L6 As far as the high & beautifull Cypresse tree peeres ouer the limber shrub, & lower Tamarisk. 1810 R. Southey Curse of Kehama xv. 162 Domes, and pinnacles, and spires were seen Peering above the sea. 1822 ‘B. Cornwall’ Flood of Thessaly ii. 314 The horrid rocks peered up as black as death. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands I. 30 Towns and villages..peer out from amidst vineyards, or clumps of the dark flat-topped pine. 1921 Spectator 7 May 585/2 Gauntly outlined, white and still, Three haystacks peer above the hill. 1984 E. Muir Coll. Poems 93 He,..Bound in with belts, the rifle's snub-nosed horn Peering above his shoulder, looks across From this new world to hers. †b. transitive. To cause to appear or peep out. Cf. peep v.¹ 2a. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > visibility > be or make visible [verb (transitive)] > cause to appear > slightly teeta1527 peepc1565 peer1594 1594 W. Shakespeare Lucrece sig. D4 Who ore the white sheet peers her whiter chin, The reason of this rash allarme to know. View more context for this quotation 2. a. intransitive. To look narrowly or closely, esp. in order to make out something indistinct or obscured; to look with difficulty or concentration at someone or something. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > seeing or looking > see [verb (intransitive)] > peer toot?c1225 porec1300 pirea1393 peer1580 pink1587 under-peer1589 blink1600 to look wormsc1600 squinny1608 pee1673 pore1706 pinker1754 styme1808 speer1866 squint1891 quiz1906 skeeze1922 1580 A. Saker Narbonus ii. 81 The Court is curious and I careles:..one gapeth after gayne, and another peereth after pleasure. 1605 1st Pt. Jeronimo sig. Aiii^v One peeres for day, the other gappes for night. 1623 King James VI & I Let. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. III. 139 I hawe bene trowbled with Hamilton, quho..wold needs peere over my showlder quhen I was reading thaime. 1650 A. Bradstreet Tenth Muse Pref. sig. A4 He peer'd, and por'd, and glar'd, and said for wore, I'me even as wisnow, as I was before. 1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 311 I walk'd about peering, and peeping into every Door and Window I came near. 1775 F. Burney Jrnl. 3 Apr. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (1990) II. 101 He is so near sighted, that he peers in every body's Face a minute or two before he knows them. 1839 C. Dickens Nicholas Nickleby xxxi. 302 How dare you pry, and peer, and stare at me, sirrah? 1873 T. Hardy Pair of Blue Eyes I. xii. 252 She peered out as well as the window, beaded with drops, would allow her. 1934 H. Roth Call it Sleep i. x. 73 David ate cautiously, peering up furtively from time to time to see whether anything he did was displeasing his father. 1990 Connections (Sealink Brit. Ferries) Apr. 20/1 One can peer through a crack in the gate to see where the artist produced many of his celebrated flower paintings. †b. transitive. To search out, to pry out. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > spy on [verb (transitive)] > pry spya1325 to pry into ——1581 worm1607 peer1838 1838 Lett. fr. Madras (1843) 181 We did not want him to go and peer out all the gossip concerning them. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.adj.c1300v.¹c1400v.²a1522v.³1568
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peern.adj.

Compounds

Derivatives

peerv.1

peerv.2

peerv.3

peerv.¹

peerv.²

peerv.³