terrier

See also: Terrier

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛɹiə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French, from Old French chien terrier (“terrier dog”), from chien (“dog”) + Old French terrier (“of earth”, adjective), from Medieval Latin terrarius (“of earth”), from Latin terra (“earth”).

Alternative forms

• tarrier (obsolete)

Noun

terrier (plural terriers)

1. A dog from a group of small, lively breeds, originally bred for the hunting of burrowing prey such as rats, rabbits, foxes, and even otters; this original function is reflected in some of their names (e.g. rat terrier).
2. Someone displaying terrier-like qualities such as determined pursuit.
   • 2020 November 4, Paul Bigland, “At no point have I felt unsafe...”, in Rail, page 47:

     One of the LNER dispatch staff is a terrier when it comes to masks, challenging anyone without them.

Derived terms

• Aberdeen terrier
• Airedale terrier
• American hairless terrier
• Bedlington Terrier
• Bedlington terrier
• Boston terrier
• Brazilian terrier
• bull terrier
• cairn terrier
• Cesky terrier
• Clydesdale terrier
• fox terrier
• Irish terrier
• Jack Russell terrier
• Kerry blue terrier
• Lakeland terrier
• Ormskirk terrier
• pit bull terrier
• rat terrier
• Scotch terrier
• Scottish terrier
• Sealyham terrier
• Skye terrier
• smooth fox terrier
• Staffordshire bull terrier
• teacup terrier
• toy fox terrier
• Welsh terrier
• West Highland white terrier
• wheaten terrier
• Wheaten terrier
• wire fox terrier
• wire-haired terrier
• working terrier
• Yorkshire terrier

 

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ters-‎ (0 c, 37 e)

Translations

dog

• Bulgarian: териер (bg) m (terier)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 㹴犬 (zh) (gěngquǎn)

• Czech: teriér (cs) m
• Dutch: terriër (nl) m
• Finnish: terrieri (fi)
• French: terrier (fr) m
• German: Terrier (de) m
• Hungarian: terrier (hu)
• Irish: brocaire m
• Lithuanian: terjeras m
• Malay: anjing terrier
• Navajo: łééchąąʼí hadaalzheehígíí
• Polish: terier (pl) m, terrier (pl) m
• Portuguese: terrier (pt) m
• Russian: терье́р (ru) m (terʹjér)
• Scottish Gaelic: abhag f
• Vietnamese: chó sục, chó đào đất
• Welsh: daeargi m

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Anglo-Norman terrier, from Old French terrier (“of earth”, adjective), from Medieval Latin terrarius (“of earth”), from Latin terra (“earth”).

Noun

terrier (plural terriers)

1. (law, historical) A collection of acknowledgments of the vassals or tenants of a lordship, containing the rents and services they owed to the lord, etc.
3. (law) An inventory (book or roll) in which the lands of private persons or corporations are described by their site, boundaries, number of acres, etc.; a terrar.

Coordinate terms

• periplus
• periegesis

Etymology 3

Compare Latin terō (“to rub, to rub away”), terebra (“a borer”).

Noun

terrier (plural terriers)

1. An auger or borer.

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “terrier”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
• “terrier”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• retirer, retrier

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English terrier, from French (chien) terrier.

Noun

terrier c (singular definite terrieren, plural indefinite terriere)

1. terrier (a small breed of dog)

Declension

Declension of terrier

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	terrier	terrieren	terriere	terrierne
genitive	terriers	terrierens	terrieres	terriernes

References

• “terrier” in Den Danske Ordbog

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French, from Medieval Latin terrārius (“of earth”) from Latin terra (“earth”); or equivalent to terre +‎ -ier. Most terrier breeds were developed to hunt vermin both over and under the ground.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tɛ.ʁje/ ~ /te.ʁje/

• Audio (CA):

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

terrier (feminine terrière, masculine plural terriers, feminine plural terrières)

1. (archaic, relational) ground, earth, land
2. enumerating seignorial rights, notably in livre terrier (“land register”)

Derived terms

• chien terrier (“terrier dog”)
• chienne terrier (“terrier bitch”)
• livre terrier (“land register”)
• papier terrier (“register of landed property”)
• plan terrier (“land-use plan”)

Noun

terrier m (plural terriers)

1. hole
2. (fox's) earth; (rabbit) hole or burrow; (badger's) sett
3. terrier (dog)

Derived terms

• chevêche des terriers
• chouette des terriers
• terrier de blaireau
• terrier de lapin
• terrier de renard
• sortir de son terrier (“break cover”)
• vivre dans son terrier (“live on one's own”)

References

• Nouveau Petit Larousse illustré. Dictionnaire encyclopédique. Paris, Librairie Larousse, 1952, 146th edition

Further reading

• “terrier”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• retirer

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English terrier, from French (chien) terrier.

Noun

terrier m (invariable)

1. terrier (dog)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From French (chien) terrier.

Noun

terrier m (definite singular terrieren, indefinite plural terriere, definite plural terrierne)

1. a terrier dog breed

References

• “terrier” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “terrier” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Anagrams

• reiter, retirer

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From French (chien) terrier.

Noun

terrier m (definite singular terrieren, indefinite plural terrierar, definite plural terrierane)

1. a terrier dog breed

References

• “terrier” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
• “terrier”, in Norsk Ordbok: ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet, Oslo: Samlaget, 1950-2016

Anagrams

• reiter, retirer

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French terrier, from Middle French terrier, from Old French chien terrier, from Medieval Latin terrārius.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛ.rjɛr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛrjɛr
• Syllabification: te‧rrier
• Homophone: terier

Noun

terrier m animal

1. Alternative spelling of terier

Declension

Declension of terrier

	singular	plural
nominative	terrier	terriery
genitive	terriera	terrierów
dative	terrierowi	terrierom
accusative	terriera	terriery
instrumental	terrierem	terrierami
locative	terrierze	terrierach
vocative	terrierze	terriery

Derived terms

adjective

• terrierowy

 

Further reading

• terrier in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• terrier in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English terrier, from French (chien) terrier.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /te.ʁiˈe/ [te.hɪˈe], (faster pronunciation) /teˈʁje/ [teˈhje]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /te.ʁiˈe/ [te.hɪˈe], (faster pronunciation) /teˈʁje/ [teˈhje]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /te.ʁiˈe/ [te.χɪˈe], (faster pronunciation) /teˈʁje/ [teˈχje]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɛˈʁje/

Noun

terrier m or f by sense (plural terriers)

1. terrier (a small breed of dog)

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English terrier, from French (chien) terrier.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /teˈrjeɾ/ [t̪eˈrjeɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: te‧rrier

Noun

terrier m (plural terriers or terrier)

1. terrier (dog)

Further reading

• “terrier”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014