See also: Leer, lêer, and leër

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Exact development uncertain, but apparently from a verb *leer (to make a face, look sideways), from leer (cheek, face, profile).

Verb

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leer (third-person singular simple present leers, present participle leering, simple past and past participle leered)

  1. (intransitive) To look sideways or obliquely; now especially with sexual desire or malicious intent.
    • 1834 [1799], Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, “The Devil's Thoughts”, in The Poetical Works of S. T. Coleridge, volume II, London: W. Pickering, page 86:
      And she looked to Mr. –––– / And leered like a love-sick pigeon.
    • 1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter XXXVIII, in Great Expectations [], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, [], published October 1861, →OCLC:
      I thought I saw him leer in an ugly way at me while the decanters were going round, but as there was no love lost between us, that might easily be.
    • 1878, Henry James, chapter VI, in The Europeans[1], Macmillan and Co.:
      The Baroness perceived that her entertainer had analyzed material comfort to a sufficiently fine point. And then he possessed the most delightful chinoiseries—trophies of his sojourn in the Celestial Empire: pagodas of ebony and cabinets of ivory; sculptured monsters, grinning and leering on chimney-pieces, in front of beautifully figured hand-screens; []
    • 1880, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XVIII, in A Tramp Abroad; [], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company; London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
      It was a quarter well stocked with deformed, leering, unkempt and uncombed idiots, who held out hands or caps and begged piteously.
    • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter XIII, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC:
      “Hush! Don’t say that. You have done enough evil in your life. My God! Don’t you see that accursed thing leering at us?”
  2. (transitive) To entice with a leer or leers.
    • 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. [], London: [] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, [], →OCLC, Act I, page 6:
      But Bertran has been taught the Arts of Court, / To guild a Face with Smiles; and leer a man to ruin.
Conjugation
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Translations
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Noun

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leer (plural leers)

  1. A significant side glance; a glance expressive of some passion, as malignity, amorousness, etc.; a sly or lecherous look.
  2. An arch or affected glance or cast of countenance.
Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English ler, leor (face, cheek), from Old English hlēor (face, cheek, profile), from Proto-West Germanic *hleuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hleuzą (ear, cheek), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlews- (temple of the forehead, cheek), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (to hear). Cognate with Scots lire, lere (face, appearance, complexion), Dutch lier (cheek), Swedish lyra (pout), Norwegian lia (hillside), Icelandic hlýr (the face, cheek, countenance). Related to Old English hlyst (sense of hearing, listening) and hlysnan (to listen). More at list, listen.

Alternative forms

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Noun

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leer (plural leers)

  1. (obsolete) The cheek.
  2. (obsolete) The face.
  3. (obsolete) One's appearance; countenance.
  4. (obsolete) Complexion; hue; colour.
  5. (obsolete) Flesh; skin.
  6. (UK dialectal) The flank or loin.

Etymology 3

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From Middle English lere, from Old English ġelǣr, *lǣre (empty, void, empty-handed), from Proto-Germanic *lēziz, *lēzijaz (empty), from Proto-Indo-European *les- (to collect, pick). Cognate with Dutch laar (a clearing in the woods), German leer (empty). Related to Old English lesan (to gather, collect). More at lease.

Alternative forms

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Adjective

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leer (comparative more leer, superlative most leer)

  1. (obsolete) Empty; unoccupied; clear.
    Synonyms: vacant, void; see also Thesaurus:empty
    • 1591, John Harington, Orlando Furioso:
      The horse runs leere away without the man.
  2. (obsolete) Destitute; lacking; wanting.
    Synonyms: absent, awanting; see also Thesaurus:lacking
  3. (obsolete) Faint from lack of food; hungry.
  4. (UK dialectal, obsolete) Thin; faint.
  5. (obsolete) Having no load or burden; free; without a rider.
  6. (obsolete) Lacking sense or seriousness; trifling; frivolous.
    leer words
Derived terms
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Etymology 4

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From Middle English leren, from Old English lǣran (to teach, instruct, guide, enjoin, advise, persuade, urge, preach, hand down), from Proto-West Germanic *laiʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *laizijaną (to teach), from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (track, footprint, furrow, trace). Cognate with Dutch leren (to teach, to learn), German lehren (to teach), Swedish lära (to teach). Related to Old English lār (lore, learning, science, art of teaching, preaching, doctrine, study, precept, exhortation, advice, instigation, history, story, cunning). See lore.

Verb

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leer (third-person singular simple present leers, present participle leering, simple past and past participle leered)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To teach.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To learn.

Etymology 5

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See lehr.

Noun

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leer (plural leers)

  1. Alternative form of lehr

Anagrams

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Afrikaans

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Dutch leren, from Middle Dutch lêren, from Old Dutch lēren, from Proto-Germanic *laizijaną.

Verb

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leer (present leer, present participle lerende, past participle geleer)

  1. To learn.

Etymology 2

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From Dutch leer, from Middle Dutch lêre, from Old Dutch lēra, from Proto-Germanic *laizō.

Noun

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leer (uncountable)

  1. A teaching.

Etymology 3

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From Dutch leer, from older leder, from Middle Dutch lēder, from Old Dutch *lether, from Proto-Germanic *leþrą.

Noun

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leer (uncountable)

  1. leather

Etymology 4

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From Dutch leer (dialectal synonym of ladder), from Middle Dutch leer.

Noun

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leer (plural lere)

  1. A ladder.
Descendants
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  • Sotho: lere
  • Xhosa: ileli

Danish

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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leer c

  1. indefinite plural of le

Dutch

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Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nl

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From leder through regular syncope of intervocalic -d- (compare weer, blij, la), from Middle Dutch leder, from Old Dutch *lether, from Proto-West Germanic *leþr, from Proto-Germanic *leþrą.

Noun

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leer n (uncountable)

  1. leather
    Synonym: leder
    Deze tas is gemaakt van hoogwaardig leer en is zeer duurzaam.
    This bag is made of high-quality leather and is very durable.
    Ik hou van de geur van vers leer, het is zo karakteristiek.
    I love the smell of fresh leather, it's so distinctive.
Derived terms
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Descendants
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Etymology 2

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From Middle Dutch lêre, from Old Dutch lēra, from Proto-Germanic *laizō.

Noun

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leer f (plural leren, diminutive leertje n)

  1. doctrine
    In de filosofie zijn er verschillende leren en opvattingen over de aard van de werkelijkheid.
    In philosophy, there are various doctrines and views on the nature of reality.
  2. theory, teachings
    Deze wetenschappelijke studie is gebaseerd op de nieuwste leren en onderzoek op het gebied van genetica.
    This scientific study is based on the latest theory and research in the field of genetics.
    De afdeling biologie biedt verschillende leren aan, zoals celbiologie, ecologie en moleculaire biologie.
    The biology department offers various fields of learning such as cell biology, ecology, and molecular biology.
  3. a field of learning; set of lessons and theory on a subject within a discipline
Derived terms
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Descendants
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Etymology 3

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From Middle Dutch leer, contraction of ledere.

Noun

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leer f (plural leren)

  1. (dialectal, dated) Alternative form of ladder
Descendants
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Etymology 4

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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leer

  1. inflection of leren:
    1. first-person singular present indicative
    2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
    3. imperative

Anagrams

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Estonian

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Low German leger, lager. Etymological twin of laager.

Noun

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leer (genitive leeri, partitive leeri)

  1. A camp
  2. A side (in a conflict)
    Ta on vastaste leeris
    He's on the enemies' side.
Declension
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Declension of leer (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative leer leerid
accusative nom.
gen. leeri
genitive leeride
partitive leeri leere
leerisid
illative leeri
leerisse
leeridesse
leeresse
inessive leeris leerides
leeres
elative leerist leeridest
leerest
allative leerile leeridele
leerele
adessive leeril leeridel
leerel
ablative leerilt leeridelt
leerelt
translative leeriks leerideks
leereks
terminative leerini leerideni
essive leerina leeridena
abessive leerita leerideta
comitative leeriga leeridega

Etymology 2

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From Middle Low German lere (study, learning).

Noun

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leer (genitive leeri, partitive leeri)

  1. A (protestant) confirmation into the faithful community.
Declension
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Declension of leer (ÕS type 22e/riik, length gradation)
singular plural
nominative leer leerid
accusative nom.
gen. leeri
genitive leeride
partitive leeri leere
leerisid
illative leeri
leerisse
leeridesse
leeresse
inessive leeris leerides
leeres
elative leerist leeridest
leerest
allative leerile leeridele
leerele
adessive leeril leeridel
leerel
ablative leerilt leeridelt
leerelt
translative leeriks leerideks
leereks
terminative leerini leerideni
essive leerina leeridena
abessive leerita leerideta
comitative leeriga leeridega

German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German lēr, lēre, lǣre, from Old High German lāri, from Proto-West Germanic *lāʀi, from Proto-Germanic *lēziz. Cognate with Bavarian lar, Dutch laar, English leer.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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leer (strong nominative masculine singular leerer, comparative leerer, superlative am leersten)

  1. empty
    Synonym: inhaltslos
    Antonyms: voll, gefüllt

Declension

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Derived terms

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Verb

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leer

  1. singular imperative of leeren
  2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of leeren

Further reading

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  • leer” in Duden online
  • leer” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

North Frisian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old Frisian *hletha (attested in the past participle hleden), from Proto-Germanic *hlaþaną.

Verb

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leer

  1. (Sylt) to load

Conjugation

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Verb

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leer

  1. present tense of lee

Old Galician-Portuguese

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Etymology

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Inherited from Latin lēgere.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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leer

  1. to read
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Descendants

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Further reading

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Pennsylvania German

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Etymology

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From Middle High German lǣre, from Old High German lāri. Compare German leer.

Adjective

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leer

  1. empty

Romansch

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Etymology

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From Latin aēr, with the initial 'l' added from a preceding definite article.

Noun

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leer m

  1. (Sutsilvan) air

Synonyms

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  • (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran) aria
  • (Puter, Vallader) ajer

Spanish

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Sense 1

Etymology

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Inherited from Latin legere (to read, gather, choose), from Proto-Italic *legō, from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-. Related with English legend, legible, lesson.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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leer (first-person singular present leo, first-person singular preterite leí, past participle leído)

  1. to read
    Synonym: (Belize) ridear
    Quiero leer el periódico.
    I want to read the newspaper.
    Léase también la Orden General núm. 8.
    Also read General Order No. 8.
    • 1605, Miguel de Cervantes, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, Primera parte:
      [] y llegó a tanto su curiosidad y desatino en esto, que vendió muchas hanegas de tierra de sembradura para comprar libros de caballerías en que leer, y, así, llevó a su casa todos cuantos pudo haber dellos.
      [] to such a pitch did his eagerness and infatuation go that he sold many an acre of tillage land to buy books of chivalry to read, and brought home as many of them as he could get.

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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Further reading

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