veer

See also: Veer and véër

English

Pronunciation

• (General Australian, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /vɪə̯/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /vɪ(ə)ɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle Dutch vieren (“to slacken”).

Verb

veer (third-person singular simple present veers, present participle veering, simple past and past participle veered)

2. (obsolete, nautical) To let out (a sail-line), to allow (a sheet) to run out.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     As when a skilfull Marriner doth reed / A storme approching, that doth perill threat, / He will not bide the daunger of such dread, / But strikes his sayles, and vereth his mainsheat, / And lends vnto it leaue the emptie ayre to beat.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French virer.

Noun

veer (plural veers)

2. A turn or swerve; an instance of veering.
   • 1917, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:

     […] there is always a sudden, though small rise in the barometer, and a sudden drop of temperature of several degrees, sometimes as much as ten or fifteen degrees; there is also a sudden veer in the wind direction.

Translations

turning

• Bulgarian: обръщане (bg) n (obrǎštane)
• Georgian: მობრუნება (mobruneba)
• Persian: ویراژ (fa) (virâž)
• Russian: поворо́т (ru) m (povorót)
• Serbo-Croatian: obrtanje n

  Roman: skretanje (sh) n

change of direction - of the wind

• Bulgarian: промяна на посоката (promjana na posokata)
• Galician: rolar (gl)
• Maori: kōtore
• Serbo-Croatian: promjena smjera f, promena smera

Verb

veer (third-person singular simple present veers, present participle veering, simple past and past participle veered)

2. (intransitive) To change direction or course suddenly; to swerve.

   The car slid on the ice and veered out of control.

   • 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     And as he leads, the following navy veers.

   • 1796, Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace:

     We are in a war of a peculiar nature. It is not with an ordinary community which is hostile or friendly as passion or as interest may veer about.

   • 1951 April, R. S. McNaught, “Railway Enthusiasts”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 269:

     In recent years, the attitude of the railway authorities towards large-scale visits to works and sheds on the whole, has, happily, veered round from suspicion, and even point-blank opposition, to one of co-operation and ready welcome.

   • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     At this time in 2008, even as the global economy veered toward collapse, optimism about Washington ran surprisingly high.

   • 2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, pages 38, 39:

     As he neared a bridge over the East Coast Main Line near Great Heck, he lost control. His Land Rover left the carriageway and veered onto the hard shoulder before biting into the grass verge.
     [page 39] It ran derailed for about 500 yards before encountering a set of points, which caused it to veer into the path of an Immingham-Ferrybridge coal train, powered by Freightliner 66521 (one of a class of locomotive well-known for being well-built enough to destroy anything that got in its way).

   • 2023 October 11, Jonathan Jones, “Frieze London art fair review – a graveyard of creativity for tasteless one percenters”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     As for the legions of paintings, they veer between the bland and bizarre.

3. (intransitive, of the wind) To shift in a clockwise direction (if in the Northern Hemisphere, or in a counterclockwise direction if in the Southern Hemisphere).
   • 1966, F. K. Hare, The Restless Atmosphere, 4th edition, Hutchinson University Library

     It is clear that when a front passes the observer, there must be a sudden shift in wind: in the northern hemisphere it will always veer, that is, shift in a clockwise sense.

4. (intransitive, nautical, of the wind) To shift aft.
5. (intransitive, nautical) To change direction into the wind; to wear ship.
6. (transitive) To turn.

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “of the wind, to shift clockwise”): back
• (antonym(s) of “of the wind, to shift aft”): haul forward

Translations

to change direction or course suddenly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 转向 (zh)

• Czech: stočit se pf, měnit směr impf, změnit směr pf, náhle zahnout
• Finnish: kaartaa (fi)
• French: virer (fr), tourner (fr)
• Georgian: მიმართულების შეცვლა (mimartulebis šecvla)
• German: ausscheren (de), abdrehen (de)
• Maori: tataha
• Slovak: zahnúť, zabočiť
• Spanish: virar (es)

of wind: to shift in a clockwise direction

• Finnish: laskea (fi)
• German: rechtdrehen
• Maori: tōrua (can refer to any direction), kōrure

to change direction into the wind

• Bulgarian: хващам вятъра (hvaštam vjatǎra)
• Finnish: kääntyä tuuleen
• French: virer (fr)

transitive: to turn

• Bulgarian: обръщам (bg) (obrǎštam)
• Czech: stočit pf
• Finnish: kääntää (fi)
• French: virer (fr)
• Georgian: მობრუნება (mobruneba)
• German: drehen (de)
• Maori: kōtore, tōrua (of wind or current)
• Occitan: virar (oc)
• Persian: ویراژ دادن (virâž dâdan), تغییر جهت دادن (tağyir jahat dâdan)
• Portuguese: virar (pt)
• Russian: меня́ть курс impf (menjátʹ kurs), повора́чивать (ru) impf (povoráčivatʹ), поверну́ть (ru) pf (povernútʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: скренути

  Roman: skrenuti (sh)

• Spanish: virar (es)

Etymology 3

Noun

veer (plural veers)

1. (Cornwall) A piglet or a heifer.
   • 1868, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Belgravia, volume 5, page 490:

     But with us veers are little pigs; and in some parishes heifers are called veers too. So you see it is not such a noble name with us, that I was going to be startled at the idea of a veer eating up my grass.

Anagrams

• Vere, ever

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch veer.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

veer (plural vere)

1. feather

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veːˀər/, [ˈʋeːˀɐ]
• Rhymes: -eːˀər

Noun

veer

1. plural of ve

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veːr/, [vɪːr]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: veer
• Rhymes: -eːr

Etymology 1

A contraction of veder, from Middle Dutch vedere, from Old Dutch fethara, from Proto-West Germanic *feþru, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ ~ pth₂én- (“feather, wing”), from *peth₂- (“to fly”). The sense "spring" is derived from the ability of feathers to resume their shape when bent.

Cognate with Low German Fedder, German Feder, West Frisian fear, English feather, Danish fjer, Swedish fjäder.

Noun

veer f (plural veren, diminutive veertje n)

1. a feather, plume

   Synonym: pluim

2. a mechanical spring (e.g. metallic helix which resists stress)
3. a twisted leaf, notably of a fern

Alternative forms

• veder (feather, dated)

Derived terms

• bladveer
• contourveer
• dekveer
• dinosaurusveer
• donsveer
• drijfveer
• drukveer
• een veer in de reet steken
• ganzenveer
• met andermans veren pronken
• okselveer
• oorveer
• schroefveer
• spiraalveer
• springveer
• staartveer
• trapveer
• trekveer
• veerconstante
• veerkracht
• veermechanisme
• veerstrop
• veerunster
• veerwild
• veren
• verendek
• verenkleed
• vogelveer
• wagenveer
• wangveer

Descendants

• Afrikaans: veer
• → Caribbean Javanese: pir
• → Indonesian: per (“spring”)

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch vere f, from Old Dutch *feri (in toponyms), from Proto-West Germanic [Term?], from Proto-Germanic *farjǭ.

Cognate with German Fähre.

Noun

veer n (plural veren, diminutive veertje n)

1. ferry

   Synonyms: overzet, pont, veerpont, veerboot

Derived terms

general

• fietsveer
• trekveer
• veerboot
• veerdienst
• veergeld
• veerloon
• veerman
• veerpont
• veerweg
• voetveer

toponyms

• Barendrechtse Veer
• Gastelsveer
• Katerveer
• Keizersveer
• Kralingse Veer
• Kuipersveer
• Looveer
• Molletjesveer
• Oude Veerdijk
• Papenveer
• Penningsveer
• Pinkenveer
• Raamsdonksveer
• Slikkerveer
• Sluissche Veer
• Stoppeldijkveer
• Wedderveer
• Wormerveer
• Zaamslagveer

Descendants

• Afrikaans: veer
• → Sranan Tongo: fer
  • → Caribbean Hindustani: fer
  • → Caribbean Javanese: fir, pir

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

veer

1. inflection of veren:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

Anagrams

• erve, ever, vere, vree

Dutch Low Saxon

Alternative forms

• vaaier (Gronings)

Etymology

From Low German, from Middle Low German vêr, from Old Saxon fiuwar. Ultimately cognate to German vier.

Numeral

veer

1. four (4)

Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *veeri.

Noun

veer (genitive veere, partitive veert)

1. edge

Declension

Declension of veer (ÕS type 13/suur, length gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		veer	veered
accusative	nom.
	gen.	veere
genitive			veerte
partitive		veert	veeri
illative		veerde veeresse	veertesse veerisse
inessive		veeres	veertes veeris
elative		veerest	veertest veerist
allative		veerele	veertele veerile
adessive		veerel	veertel veeril
ablative		veerelt	veertelt veerilt
translative		veereks	veerteks veeriks
terminative		veereni	veerteni
essive		veerena	veertena
abessive		veereta	veerteta
comitative		veerega	veertega

Further reading

• “veer”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
• “veer”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
• veer in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

German Low German

Low German cardinal numbers

<  3	4	5  >
Cardinal : veer     Ordinal : veert

Etymology

From Middle Low German vêr, from Old Saxon fiuwar. Ultimately cognate to German vier, English four.

Numeral

veer

1. (in some dialects, including Low Prussian and Münsterland) four (4)

Coordinate terms

Cardinal numbers from 0 to 99

	—0	—1	—2	—3	—4	—5	—6	—7	—8	—9
0—	null	een	twee/twei	dree/drei	veer	fiev/fief	söß/söss/seß	sæben/söven	acht	negen/nägen
1—	teihn/tein/tien	ölven/elf	twölf	dörteihn	veerteihn	föffteihn	sössteihn	söventeihn	achtteihn	negenteihn
2—	twintig	eenuntwintig	tweeuntwintig	dreeuntwintig	veeruntwintig	fiefuntwintig	sössuntwintig	sövenuntwintig	achtuntwintig	negenuntwintig
3—	dörtig	eenundörtig	tweeundörtig	dreeundörtig	veerundörtig	fiefundörtig	sössundörtig	sövenundörtig	achtundörtig	negenundörtig
4—	veertig	eenunveertig	tweeunveertig	dreeunveertig	veerunveertig	fiefunveertig	sössunveertig	sövenunveertig	achtunveertig	negenunveertig
5—	föfftig	eenunföfftig	tweeunföfftig	dreeunföfftig	veerunföfftig	fiefunföfftig	sössunföfftig	sövenunföfftig	achtunföfftig	negenunföfftig
6—	sösstig	eenunsösstig	tweeunsösstig	dreeunsösstig	veerunsösstig	fiefunsösstig	sössunsösstig	sövenunsösstig	achtunsösstig	negenunsösstig
7—	söventig	eenunsöventig	tweeunsöventig	dreeunsöventig	veerunsöventig	fiefunsöventig	sössunsöventig	sövenunsöventig	achtunsöventig	negenunsöventig
8—	achtig tachentig	eenunachtig eenuntachentig	tweeunachtig tweeuntachentig	dreeunachtig dreeuntachentig	veerunachtig veeruntachentig	fiefunachtig fiefuntachentig	sössunachtig sössuntachentig	sövenunachtig sövenuntachentig	achtunachtig achtuntachentig	negenunachtig negenuntachentig
9—	negentig	eenunnegentig	tweeunnegentig	dreeunnegentig	veerunnegentig	fiefunnegentig	sössunnegentig	sövenunnegentig	achtunnegentig	negenunnegentig

Cardinal numbers from 100 onward

• 100: hunnert
• 10³: dusend, duusend, eendusend
• 10⁴: teihndusend
• 10⁶: Milljon
• 10¹²: Billjon
• 10¹⁵: Billjard

…

See also

• Plautdietsch: veea

Jutish

Etymology

From Old Norse vita.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈveːɹ]

Verb

veer

1. (Fjolde) to know

References

• “veer” in Anders Bjerrum and Marie Bjerrum (1974), Ordbog over Fjoldemålet, Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag.

Limburgish

Etymology

From earlier vēr, from Middle Dutch vier, from Old Dutch *fier, from Proto-West Germanic *feuwar, from Proto-Germanic *fedwōr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veːʁ/
• Rhymes: -eːʁ

Numeral

veer (Eupen)

1. (cardinal number) four

Middle English

Noun

veer

1. Alternative form of firre

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

veer m

1. indefinite plural of ve

Old French

Verb

veer

1. Alternative form of veoir

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin vidēre, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know; see”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /βeˈeɾ/
• Rhymes: -eɾ

Verb

veer

1. to see
   • 13th century, Vindel manuscript, Martín Codax, Ai ondas que eu vim veer (facsimile)

     Ay ondas que eu uin ueer / ſe me ſaberedes dizer / por que tarda meu amigo sẽ mj

     Oh waves that I came to see / say unto me / Why my lover lingers thus away from me?

Conjugation

Conjugation of veer, ver

infinitive				veer, ver
gerund		simple		veendo, vendo
		compound		gerund of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
past participle				singular		plural
		masculine		veúdo, viúdo, visto		*veúdos, *viúdos, vistos
		feminine		veúda, viúda, vista		*veúdas, *viúdas, vistas
present participle				*veente, *vente		*veentes, ventes
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative mood		eu ei	tu	el~ele ela vossa mercee	nos nos outros nos outras	vos vos outros vos outras	eles elas
simple tenses	present	vejo	vees, vês	vee, vê	veemos, vemos	veedes, vedes	veen, vên
	imperfect	*veía, viía, via	veías, viías, vias	*veía, *viía, via	veïamos, veíamos, viïamos, viíamos, viamos, víamos	*veïades, *veíades, *viïades, *viíades, *viades, *víades	veían, viían, vian
	preterite	*veí, vií, vi, *vin	viste, *vische, *viche	viu, vio, veu, veo	vimos	vistes	viron
	pluperfect	vira	viras	vira	viramos, víramos	virades, vírades	viran
	future	veerei, verei	veerás, verás	veerá, verá	veeremos, veremos	veeredes, veredes	veerán, verán
	conditional	veeria, veria	veerias, verias	veeria, veria	veeriamos, veriamos, veeríamos, veríamos	veeriades, veriades, veeríades, veríades	veerian, verian
compound tenses	present perfect	present of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	past anterior	preterite of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	pluperfect anterior	simple pluperfect of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	future perfect	future of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
subjunctive mood		eu ei	tu	el~ele ela vossa mercee	nos nos outros nos outras	vos vos outros vos outras	eles elas
simple tenses	present	veja	vejas	veja	vejamos	vejades	vejan
	imperfect	visse	visses	visse	vissemos, víssemos	vissedes, víssedes	vissen
	future	vir	vires	vir	virmos	virdes	viren
compound tenses	present perfect	present subjunctive of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
	future perfect	future subjunctive of haver or tẽer1 + past participle
imperative mood		—	tu	vossa mercee	nos nos outros nos outras	vos vos outros vos outras	—
affirmative		—	vee, vê, *vei	veja	vejamos	veede, vede	—
negative		—	non vejas	non veja	non vejamos	non vejades	—
personal infinitive		eu ei	tu	el~ele ela vossa mercee	nos nos outros nos outras	vos vos outros vos outras	eles elas
		veer, ver	veeres, veres	veer, ver	veermos, vermos	veerdes, verdes	veeren, veren
1teer and ter were also used, although all three were less common than haver.

Descendants

• Galician: ver
• Portuguese: ver

Spanish

Verb

veer (first-person singular present veo, first-person singular preterite veí, past participle veído)

1. Obsolete spelling of ver.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of veer (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			veer
gerund			veyendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		veído		veída
		plural		veídos		veídas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	veo	veestú veésvos	vee	veemos	veéis	veen
	imperfect	veía	veías	veía	veíamos	veíais	veían
	preterite	veí	veíste	veyó	veímos	veísteis	veyeron
	future	veeré	veerás	veerá	veeremos	veeréis	veerán
	conditional	veería	veerías	veería	veeríamos	veeríais	veerían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	vea	veastú veásvos2	vea	veamos	veáis	vean
	imperfect (ra)	veyera	veyeras	veyera	veyéramos	veyerais	veyeran
	imperfect (se)	veyese	veyeses	veyese	veyésemos	veyeseis	veyesen
	future1	veyere	veyeres	veyere	veyéremos	veyereis	veyeren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		veetú veévos	vea	veamos	veed	vean
	negative		no veas	no vea	no veamos	no veáis	no vean

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of veer

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive veer	dative	veerme	veerte	veerle, veerse	veernos	veeros	veerles, veerse
	accusative	veerme	veerte	veerlo, veerla, veerse	veernos	veeros	veerlos, veerlas, veerse
with gerund veyendo	dative	veyéndome	veyéndote	veyéndole, veyéndose	veyéndonos	veyéndoos	veyéndoles, veyéndose
	accusative	veyéndome	veyéndote	veyéndolo, veyéndola, veyéndose	veyéndonos	veyéndoos	veyéndolos, veyéndolas, veyéndose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative vee	dative	véeme	véete	véele	véenos	not used	véeles
	accusative	véeme	véete	véelo, véela	véenos	not used	véelos, véelas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative veé	dative	veeme	veete	veele	veenos	not used	veeles
	accusative	veeme	veete	veelo, veela	veenos	not used	veelos, veelas
with formal second-person singular imperative vea	dative	véame	not used	véale, véase	véanos	not used	véales
	accusative	véame	not used	véalo, véala, véase	véanos	not used	véalos, véalas
with first-person plural imperative veamos	dative	not used	veámoste	veámosle	veámonos	veámoos	veámosles
	accusative	not used	veámoste	veámoslo, veámosla	veámonos	veámoos	veámoslos, veámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative veed	dative	veedme	not used	veedle	veednos	veeos	veedles
	accusative	veedme	not used	veedlo, veedla	veednos	veeos	veedlos, veedlas
with formal second-person plural imperative vean	dative	véanme	not used	véanle	véannos	not used	véanles, véanse
	accusative	véanme	not used	véanlo, véanla	véannos	not used	véanlos, véanlas, véanse

Further reading

• “veer”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10