dier

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See also: Dier

English

Etymology

From die +‎ -er.

Noun

dier (plural diers)

  1. One who dies.
    • 1985, Don DeLillo, White Noise:
      It's a way of controlling death. A way of gaining the ultimate upper hand. Be the killer for a change. Let someone else be the dier.
    • 2006, Shankar Mokashi Punekar, Awadheswari:
      Since other languages are structurally constrained to say who it was who died and since the original leaves the identity of the dier unexpressed, any translation in the target language is going to be incorrect.

Usage notes

  • Used in abstract and philosophical contexts, rather than in discussing a known individual who has died. Compare deceased.

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch dier, from Middle Dutch dier, from Old Dutch *dior, from Proto-West Germanic *deuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *deuzą, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewsóm.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /dir/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

dier (plural diere)

  1. animal
  2. beast; brute

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch dier, from Old Dutch dier, from Proto-West Germanic *deuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *deuzą, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewsóm.

Noun

dier n (plural dieren, diminutive diertje n)

  1. animal, any member of the kingdom Animalia
Usage notes

Sometimes used as a term of endearment or flirtation, as in the phrase lekker dier.

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch dier.

Determiner

dier

  1. (demonstrative) her, their, the latter's (genitive feminine singular and genitive plural of die)
    De verdachte heeft zich samen met een vriend, haar dochter en dier vriend schuldig gemaakt aan de moord op haar echtgenoot (from a verdict of the Court of Justice at 's-Gravenhage, 2011 )
    The accused (woman) is guilty of having murdered her husband in cooperation with a friend, her daughter and the latter's friend
Usage notes

Dier is used in a similar way as the possessive determiners haar and hun. It is rare in spoken Dutch, but used occasionally in writing to avoid confusion. Compare:

  • Zij vertelde van haar dochter en haar man.She told of her daughter and her (own) husband.
  • Zij vertelde van haar dochter en dier man.She told of her daughter and the latter's husband.

The corresponding masculine and neuter singular form is diens.

Etymology 3

Dialectal variant of duur; compare besturen and bestieren, which displays the same alternation in vowels, arising from dialectal differences.

Adjective

dier (comparative dierder, superlative dierst)

  1. (dialectal, archaic) Alternative form of duur
Derived terms

Anagrams

Elfdalian

Etymology

From Old Norse þeir, þær, from Proto-Germanic *þai.

Pronoun

dier

  1. they

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Old High German durri, from Proto-Germanic *þursuz.

Pronunciation

Adjective

dier (masculine dieren, neuter diert, comparative méi dier, superlative am diersten)

  1. (of plants and trees) dry, dead

Declension

Middle Dutch

Etymology 1

From Old Dutch dier, from Proto-West Germanic *deuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *deuzą, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewsóm.

Noun

dier n

  1. animal
Inflection
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Descendants
  • Dutch: dier
  • Limburgish: deer

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Determiner

dier

  1. inflection of die:
    1. feminine genitive/dative singular
    2. genitive plural

Further reading

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

dier

  1. present tense of die

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *deuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *deuzą, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewsóm.

Noun

dier n

  1. animal

Inflection

Descendants

Further reading

  • dier”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

Slovak

Noun

dier

  1. genitive plural of diera

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian diār, from Proto-West Germanic *deuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *deuzą, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewsóm.

Pronunciation

Noun

dier n (plural dieren, diminutive dierke)

  1. animal

Derived terms

Further reading

  • dier”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011