Wiktionary

ear

See also: EAR, -ear, 'ear, èar, and éar

EnglishEdit

 
A human ear.

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English ere, eare, from Old English ēare (“ear”), from the voiced Verner alternant of Proto-Germanic *ausô (“ear”) (compare Scots ear, West Frisian ear, Dutch oor, German Ohr, Swedish öra, Danish øre), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws (compare Old Irish áu, Latin auris, Lithuanian ausìs, Russian у́хо (úxo), Albanian vesh, Ancient Greek οὖς (oûs), Old Armenian ունկն (unkn), and Persian هوش‎ (huš)).

NounEdit

ear (plural ears)

  1. (countable) The organ of hearing, consisting of the pinna, auditory canal, eardrum, malleus, incus, stapes and cochlea.
  2. (countable) The external part of the organ of hearing, the auricle.
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:
      Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.
  3. (countable, slang) A police informant.
    • 1976, Stirling Silliphant, Dean Riesner, Gail Morgan Hickman, The Enforcer.
      No I'm not kidding, and if you don't give it to me I'll let it out that you’re an ear.
  4. The sense of hearing; the perception of sounds; skill or good taste in listening to music.
    • (Can we date this quote by Tennyson and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)
      songs […] not all ungrateful to thine ear
    a good ear for music
  5. The privilege of being kindly heard; favour; attention.
  6. That which resembles in shape or position the ear of an animal; a prominence or projection on an object, usually for support or attachment; a lug; a handle.
    the ears of a tub, skillet, or dish;   The ears of a boat are outside kneepieces near the bow.
  7. (architecture) An acroterium.
  8. (architecture) A crossette.
Alternative formsEdit
DescendantsEdit
  • Tok Pisin: ia
Derived termsEdit
Terms derived from ear (noun)
TranslationsEdit

See ear/translations § Noun

VerbEdit

ear (third-person singular simple present ears, present participle earing, simple past and past participle eared)

  1. (humorous) To take in with the ears; to hear.
    • Two Noble Kinsmen
      I eared her language.
  2. To hold by the ears.
    • 1964, John Hendrix, If I Can Do It Horseback: A Cow-Country Sketchbook, page 40:
      Sometimes, the helper eared the horse down; and sometimes he used a blindfold.
    • 2013, Fay E. Ward, The Cowboy at Work:
      The general technique was to rope the horse around the neck, and, while one or two men eared the horse down (held him by the ears), the rider saddled the animal and stepped above him.

See alsoEdit

Etymology 2Edit

 
Ears of wheat.

From Middle English eere, er, from Old English ēar (Northumbrian dialect æhher), from Proto-Germanic *ahaz (compare West Frisian ier, Dutch aar, German Ähre), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) (compare Latin acus (“needle; husk”), Tocharian B āk (“ear, awn”), Old Church Slavonic ость (ostĭ, “wheat spike, sharp point”). More at edge.

NounEdit

ear (plural ears)

  2. (countable) The fruiting body of a grain plant.
    He is in the fields, harvesting ears of corn.
SynonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
fruiting body of a grain plant

VerbEdit

ear (third-person singular simple present ears, present participle earing, simple past and past participle eared)

  1. (intransitive) To put forth ears in growing; to form ears, as grain does.
    This corn ears well.
TranslationsEdit

Etymology 3Edit

From Old English erian, from Proto-Germanic *arjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erh₃- (“to plough”).

VerbEdit

ear (third-person singular simple present ears, present participle earing, simple past and past participle eared)

  1. (archaic) To plough.
TranslationsEdit
plough — see plough

AnagramsEdit

LatinEdit

VerbEdit

ear

  1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of eō

Middle EnglishEdit

NounEdit

ear

  1. Alternative form of eere (“ear of grain”)

Old EnglishEdit

PronunciationEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Proto-Germanic *auraz. Akin to Old Norse aurr (“mud”).

NounEdit

ēar m

  1. sea
  2. earth

Derived termsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

From Proto-Germanic *ahaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“pointed”).

NounEdit

ēar n

  1. ear (of corn)

Alternative formsEdit

DescendantsEdit

Scottish GaelicEdit

NounEdit

ear f

  1. east
    Antonym: iar

Derived termsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  • “ear” in Edward Dwelly, Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan/The Illustrated [Scottish] Gaelic-English Dictionary, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, 1911, →ISBN.
  • “ear” in Am Faclair Beag - Scottish Gaelic Dictionary.
  • “ear” in LearnGaelic - Dictionary.

West FrisianEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old Frisian āre, from the voiced Verner alternant of Proto-Germanic *ausô, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws.

NounEdit

ear n (plural earen, diminutive earke)

  1. ear

Derived termsEdit

Further readingEdit

  • “ear (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011
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