Wiktionary

tear

EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English teren, from Old English teran (“to tear, lacerate”), from Proto-Germanic *teraną (“to tear, tear apart, rip”), from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to tear, tear apart”).

Cognate with Scots tere, teir, tair (“to rend, lacerate, wound, rip, tear out”), Dutch teren (“to eliminate, efface, live, survive by consumption”), German zehren (“to consume, misuse”), German zerren (“to tug, rip, tear”), Danish tære (“to consume”), Swedish tära (“to fret, consume, deplete, use up”), Icelandic tæra (“to clear, corrode”). Outside Germanic, cognate to Ancient Greek δέρω (dérō, “to skin”), Albanian ther (“to slay, skin, pierce”). Doublet of tire.

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

tear (third-person singular simple present tears, present participle tearing, simple past tore, past participle torn or (now colloquial and nonstandard) tore)

  2. (transitive) To rend (a solid material) by holding or restraining in two places and pulling apart, whether intentionally or not; to destroy or separate.
    • 1886, Eleanor Marx-Aveling, translator, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, 1856, Part III Chapter XI,
    • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 1, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:
      Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand. We spent consider'ble money getting 'em reset, and then a swordfish got into the pound and tore the nets all to slathers, right in the middle of the squiteague season.
      He suffered, poor man, at seeing her so badly dressed, with laceless boots, and the arm-holes of her pinafore torn down to the hips; for the charwoman took no care of her.
    He tore his coat on the nail.
  4. (transitive) To injure as if by pulling apart.
    He has a torn ligament.
    He tore some muscles in a weight-lifting accident.
  5. (transitive) To destroy or reduce abstract unity or coherence, such as social, political or emotional.
    He was torn by conflicting emotions.
  6. (transitive) To make (an opening) with force or energy.
    A piece of debris tore a tiny straight channel through the satellite.
    His boss will tear him a new one when he finds out.
    The artillery tore a gap in the line.
  7. (transitive, often with off or out) To remove by tearing.
    Tear the coupon out of the newspaper.
  8. (transitive, of structures, with down) To demolish
    The slums were torn down to make way for the new development.
  9. (intransitive) To become torn, especially accidentally.
    My dress has torn.
  10. (intransitive) To move or act with great speed, energy, or violence.
    He went tearing down the hill at 90 miles per hour.
    The tornado lingered, tearing through town, leaving nothing upright.
    He tore into the backlog of complaints.
  11. (intransitive) To smash or enter something with great force.
    The chain shot tore into the approaching line of infantry.
SynonymsEdit
  • (break): rend, rip
  • (remove by tearing): rip out, tear off, tear out
Related termsEdit
terms derived from tear (verb)
TranslationsEdit
to demolish; to tear down — See also translations at demolish

NounEdit

tear (plural tears)

  1. A hole or break caused by tearing.
    A small tear is easy to mend, if it is on the seam.
  2. (slang) A rampage.
    to go on a tear
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

Derived termsEdit

Etymology 2Edit

 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
 
A child producing tears.

From Middle English teer (“tear”), from Old English tēar, from Proto-West Germanic *tahr, from Proto-Germanic *tahrą (“tear”), from Proto-Indo-European *dáḱru- (“tears”).

Cognates include Old Norse tár (Danish tåre and Norwegian tåre), Old High German zahar (German Zähre), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐍂 (tagr), Irish deoir and Latin lacrima.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

tear (plural tears)

  2. A drop of clear, salty liquid produced from the eyes by crying or irritation.
    There were big tears rolling down Lisa's cheeks.
    Ryan wiped the tear from the paper he was crying on.
  3. Something in the form of a transparent drop of fluid matter; also, a solid, transparent, tear-shaped drop, as of some balsams or resins.
  4. (glass manufacture) A partially vitrified bit of clay in glass.
  5. That which causes or accompanies tears; a lament; a dirge.
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

VerbEdit

tear (third-person singular simple present tears, present participle tearing, simple past and past participle teared)

  1. (intransitive) To produce tears.
    Her eyes began to tear in the harsh wind.
TranslationsEdit

AnagramsEdit

GalicianEdit

 
Tear ("loom")

EtymologyEdit

Tea (“cloth”) +‎ -ar. Compare Portuguese tear and Spanish telar.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

tear m (plural teares)

  1. loom

ReferencesEdit

Middle EnglishEdit

NounEdit

tear

  1. (Early Middle English) Alternative form of teer (“tear”)

Old EnglishEdit

Alternative formsEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Proto-West Germanic *tah(h)r, from Proto-Germanic *tahrą.

Germanic cognates include Old Frisian tār, Old High German zahar, Old Norse tár, Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐍂 (tagr).

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

tēar m

  1. tear (drop of liquid from the tear duct)
    tēar ġēotan
    to shed a tear

DeclensionEdit

Declension of tear (strong a-stem)
Case Singular Plural
nominative tēar tēaras
accusative tēar tēaras
genitive tēares tēara
dative tēare tēarum

Derived termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

PortugueseEdit

FWOTD – 22 July 2019

EtymologyEdit

From teia +‎ -ar.

PronunciationEdit

 

  • Hyphenation: te‧ar

NounEdit

tear m (plural teares)

  1. loom (machine used to make cloth out of thread)
    • 1878, Joaquim Pedro Oliveira Martins, O hellenismo e a civilisação christan, publ. by the widow Bertand & Co., page 24.
      Procuro o motivo, Lysidice, porque gravaram na tua louza estes emblemas: um bridão, um freio, o passaro que abunda em Tanagro, vivo e bellicoso, não costumam convir nem agradar á mulheres sedentarias que amam o tear e a roca.
      I am trying to find out why they carved these emblems into your tombstone, Lysidice: a bridoon, a bit, the bird that is common in Tanagro, lively and warlike; they are usually neither convenient nor pleasant to sedentary women who love the loom and the distaff

West FrisianEdit

EtymologyEdit

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

NounEdit

tear c (plural tearen, diminutive tearke)

  1. fold
  2. crease

Further readingEdit

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