beer

Signification (English)

Noun

1. An alcoholic drink fermented from starch material, commonly barley malt; often with hops or some other substance (like gruit) to impart a bitter flavor.
2. A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.
3. A solution produced by steeping plant materials in water or another fluid.
4. A glass, bottle, or can of any of the above beverages.
5. A variety of the above beverages.

Verb

1. (informal) To give beer to (someone).
2. (informal) To drink beer.

Concepts

bière

🍺

vin

🍷

alcool

demi

malt

pression

chope

boisson alcoolique

lambic

Bière

de bière

brassons

binouze

🍺

Synonyms

ale

alcohol

wine

🍷

liquor

pale ale

malt liquor

glass

malt

of

spear

suds

wallop

brewski

palm wine

soap-suds

Valkyrie

cerevisia

palmwine

kangaroo piss

amber fluid

neck oil

alcoholic beverage

steinber

bier

bottled beer

brew

coffin

⚰️

draught beer

Prononcé comme (IPA)

/bɪə/

Etymology (English)

Inherited from moyen anglais: bere

Inherited from ancien anglais: bēor

Cognate with saterlandais: Bjoor

Cognate with frison occidental: bier

Cognate with néerlandais: bier

Cognate with allemand: Bier

Cognate with islandais: bjór

In summary

From Middle English bere, from Old English bēor (“beer”) (Oxford OED notes: "rare, except in poetry"), from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą (“beer”) (putatively from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeusóm), meaning “brewer's yeast”.
However, also see the "beer" entry on OED (q.v.), which links a connection to monastic Vulgar Latin *biber (“a drink, beverage”), from Latin bibere (“to drink”). Samuel Johnson in his famous 18th-century A Dictionary of the English Language guessed it was from (unattested) Welsh *bîr; he distinguished it in his time from ale — the ancient usual word — by beer being older-aged and/or smaller.
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bjoor, West Frisian bier, German Low German Beer, Dutch bier, German Bier, Icelandic bjór (“beer”).

Phrases

Two men discussing something over a beer .

Deux hommes discutant de quelque chose sur une bière .