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e'er

1

[ air ]

adverb

, Chiefly Literary.
  1. contraction of ever.


EER

2

abbreviation for

-eer

3
  1. a noun-forming suffix occurring originally in loanwords from French ( buccaneer; mutineer; pioneer ) and productive in the formation of English nouns denoting persons who produce, handle, or are otherwise significantly associated with the referent of the base word ( auctioneer; engineer; mountaineer; pamphleteer ); now frequently pejorative ( profiteer; racketeer ). Compare -ary, -er 2, -ier 2.

-eer

1

suffix

  1. forming nouns indicating a person who is concerned with or who does something specified

    mutineer

    engineer

    auctioneer

    profiteer

  2. forming verbs to be concerned with something specified

    electioneer

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


e'er

2

/ ɛə /

adverb

  1. poetic.
    a contraction of ever
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of e'er1

< French, Middle French -ier ( Old French < Latin -ārius -ary as suffix of personal nouns); in some nouns replacing earlier suffixes ( engineer, charioteer ) or the French suffix -aire -aire ( musketeer, volunteer )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of e'er1

from Old French -ier, from Latin -arius -ary
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Example Sentences

Byron in his day thought differently, for he sang: the most living crystal that was eer.

We'll take the steed out where he is, The gold where eer it be, And we'll away to some unco land, And married we shall be.

Her cap'n es Billy Coad, a man you may 'ave 'eer'd on, and wawn you would like to knaw.

Well, if eer I heard sic a stand-and-deliver-like speech since ever I was born,—exclaimed his grandmother.

He was an innocent poor man that wouldnt harm a child, besides being pleasant and agreeable as eer a one youd meet.

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