Adjacent Words

Peer definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PEER, n. [L. par.]
1. An equal; one of the same rank. A man may be familiar with his peers.
2. An equal in excellence or endowments.
In song he never had his peer.
3. A companion; a fellow; an associate.
He all his peers in beauty did surpass.
4. A nobleman; as a peer of the realm; the house of peers, so called because noblemen and barons were originally considered as the companions of the king, like L. comes,count. In England, persons belonging to the five degrees of nobility are all peers.
PEER, v.i. [L. pareo.]
1. To come just in sight; to appear; a poetic word.
So honor peereth in the meanest habit.
See how his gorget peers above his gown.
2. To look narrowly; to peep; as the peering day.
Peering in maps for ports and piers and roads.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a person who is of equal standing with another in a group [syn: peer, equal, match, compeer]
2: a nobleman (duke or marquis or earl or viscount or baron) who is a member of the British peerage v
1: look searchingly; "We peered into the back of the shop to see whether a salesman was around"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French per, from per, adjective, equal, from Latin par Date: 13th century 1. one that is of equal standing with another ; equal; especially one belonging to the same societal group especially based on age, grade, or status 2. archaic companion 3. a. a member of one of the five ranks (as duke, marquess, earl, viscount, or baron) of the British peerage b. noble 1 • peer adjective II. transitive verb Date: 14th century archaic rival, match III. intransitive verb Etymology: perhaps by shortening & alteration from appear Date: 1580 1. to look narrowly or curiously; especially to look searchingly at something difficult to discern 2. to come slightly into view ; emerge partly

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. v.intr. 1 (usu. foll. by into, at, etc.) look keenly or with difficulty (peered into the fog). 2 appear; peep out. 3 archaic come into view. Etymology: var. of pire, LG piren; perh. partly f. APPEAR 2. n. & v. --n. 1 a (fem. peeress) a member of one of the degrees of the nobility in Britain, i.e. a duke, marquis, earl, viscount, or baron. b a noble of any country. 2 a person who is equal in ability, standing, rank, or value; a contemporary (tried by a jury of his peers). --v.intr. & tr. (usu. foll. by with) rank or cause to rank equally. Phrases and idioms: peer group a group of people of the same age, status, interests, etc. peer of the realm (or the United Kingdom) any of the class of peers whose adult members may all sit in the House of Lords. Derivatives: peerless adj. Etymology: ME f. AF & OF pe(e)r, perer f. LL pariare f. L par equal

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Peer Peer v. t. To be, or to assume to be, equal. [R.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Peer Peer, n. [OE. per, OF. per, F. pair, fr. L. par equal. Cf. Apparel, Pair, Par, n., Umpire.] 1. One of the same rank, quality, endowments, character, etc.; an equal; a match; a mate. In song he never had his peer. --Dryden. Shall they consort only with their peers? --I. Taylor. 2. A comrade; a companion; a fellow; an associate. He all his peers in beauty did surpass. --Spenser. 3. A nobleman; a member of one of the five degrees of the British nobility, namely, duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron; as, a peer of the realm. A noble peer of mickle trust and power. --Milton. House of Peers, The Peers, the British House of Lords. See Parliament. Spiritual peers, the bishops and archibishops, or lords spiritual, who sit in the House of Lords.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Peer Peer, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Peered; p. pr. & vb. n. Peering.] [OF. parir, pareir equiv. to F. para[^i]tre to appear, L. parere. Cf. Appear.] 1. To come in sight; to appear. [Poetic] So honor peereth in the meanest habit. --Shak. See how his gorget peers above his gown! --B. Jonson. 2. [Perh. a different word; cf. OE. piren, LG. piren. Cf. Pry to peep.] To look narrowly or curiously or intently; to peep; as, the peering day. --Milton. Peering in maps for ports, and piers, and roads. --Shak. As if through a dungeon grate he peered. --Coleridge.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Peer Peer v. t. To make equal in rank. [R.] --Heylin.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(peers, peering, peered) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you peer at something, you look at it very hard, usually because it is difficult to see clearly. I had been peering at a computer print-out that made no sense at all... He watched the Customs official peer into the driver's window. VERB: V prep, V prep 2. In Britain, a peer is a member of the nobility who has or had the right to vote in the House of Lords. Lord Swan was made a life peer in 1981. N-COUNT 3. Your peers are the people who are the same age as you or who have the same status as you. His engaging personality made him popular with his peers. N-COUNT: usu pl, poss N

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Equal, mate, match, compeer. 2. Companion, associate, fellow, comrade, contemporary. 3. Nobleman, lord. II. v. n. 1. (Poetical.) Appear, peep, come in sight. 2. Peep, pry, look closely or narrowly.

Moby Thesaurus

Brahman, appear, archduke, aristocrat, armiger, associate, autopsy, baron, baroness, baronet, be curious, become visible, bend the eyes, blue blood, bore, break through, burn with curiosity, canvass, check, check out, check over, check up on, coequal, colleague, compeer, confrere, count, counterpart, countess, daimio, delve into, dig around for, dig into, dig up, direct the eyes, ditto, duchess, duke, earl, emerge, equal, equipollent, equivalent, esquire, examine, explore, eye, fathom, fellow, gape, gaup, gawk, gentleman, give an examination, glare, gloat, go into, go over, goggle, grand duke, grandee, hidalgo, indagate, inquire, inspect, interrogate, investigate, lace-curtain, lady, laird, landgrave, like, look, look at, look into, look over, lord, lordling, magnate, magnifico, marchioness, margrave, marquis, match, mate, monitor, noble, nobleman, noblewoman, nose around for, nose out, observe, opposite number, optimate, overhaul, overlook, palsgrave, parallel, pass over, pass under review, patrician, peek, peep, peep out, peer at, peer into, peruse, play peekaboo, plumb, poke into, pore over, postmortem, probe, pry, pry into, query, question, quiz, review, rival, rubber, rubberneck, run over, scan, scrutinize, search into, seek, seigneur, seignior, set an examination, show, sift, silk-stocking, size, size up, snoop, sound, sovereign, spy, squire, stare, study, survey, swell, take a peep, take stock of, take the measure, thoroughbred, twin, upper-cruster, viscount, viscountess, waldgrave, want to know