beer

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable) 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. (uncountable) A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.
3. (uncountable) A solution produced by steeping plant materials in water or another fluid.
4. (countable) A glass, bottle, or can of any of the above beverages.
5. (countable) A variety of the above beverages.

Verb

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

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

Translations

bière

🍺

cerveza

🍺

Bier

🍺

birra

🍺

bier

🍺

cerveja

🍺

bira

🍺

cervesa

🍺

cerevisia

cervisia

μπύρα

بيرة

🍺

μπίρα

جعة

🍺

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɪə/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: bere

Inherited from Old English: bēor

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: Bjoor

Cognate with Western Frisian: bier

Cognate with Dutch: bier

Cognate with German: Bier

Cognate with Icelandic: 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 *bʰewsóm), meaning “brewer's yeast”.
However, also see the "beer" entry on EtymOnline (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 (“beer”), West Frisian bier (“beer”), Dutch bier (“beer”), German Low German Beer (“beer”), German Bier (“beer”), dialectal Swedish bjor, bör (“beer”), Norwegian Nynorsk bjor (“beer”), Faroese bjór (“beer”), Icelandic bjór (“beer”).

Sentences

Two men discussing something over a beer .