bier

Meaning

1. A litter to transport the corpse of a dead person.
2. A platform or stand where a body or coffin is placed.
3. A count of forty threads in the warp or chain of woollen cloth.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɪə/

Etymology

From Middle English beer, beere, bere, from Old English bēr, (West Saxon) bǣr (“stretcher, bier”), from Proto-West Germanic *bāru, from Proto-Germanic *bērō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Beere (“stretcher, bier”), Dutch baar (“bier”), German Bahre (“bier, stretcher”). More at bear.