HomeServicesBlogDictionariesContactSpanish Course
← Back to search

Meaning of -er | Babel Free

Phrase CEFR C2
ə

Definitions

  1. Used to form diminutives.
  2. Used to form slang or colloquial equivalents of words.
  3. A suffix creating adjectives from verbs, indicating aptitude, proneness, or tendency toward a specified action
  4. Junior, child, younger person. (Attached to a name, usually one syllable of the given name.)
  5. A person or thing that does an action indicated by the root verb; used to form an agent noun.
  6. Suffix used to form the plural of a small number of English nouns.
  7. More; used to form the comparative.
  8. Frequently; used to form frequentative verbs.
  9. Instance of (the verbal action); used to form nouns from verbs.
  10. A person or thing to which the root verb is done or can be done satisfactorily.
  11. A person whose occupation is the root noun; (more broadly, occasionally with adjectives) a person characterized by the root.
  12. A person or thing to which a certain number or measurement applies.
  13. Used to form nouns shorter than more formal synonyms.
  14. A person who is associated with, or supports a particular theory, doctrine, or political movement.
  15. A thing that is related in some way to the root, such as by location or purpose.
  16. Indicates a correspondence or coincidence between the action or condition indicated by the root and the noun being described.
  17. Suffix denoting a resident or inhabitant of (the place denoted by the proper noun); used to form a demonym.
  18. Suffix denoting residency in or around a place, district, area, or region.

Equivalents

Afrikaans -er
Azərbaycanca -çi -çı -çu daha
Català -er -era
Cymraeg -ach -wr -wraig -ydd mwy
Deutsch -er
Ελληνικά -άς -ού -τερος πλέον
Esperanto -ano -isto pli
Español -dor -dora -era -ero -ista más
فارسی ـتر ـکار ـی
Suomi -is -ja -lainen -mpi -ri
Français -er plus
Gaeilge -éir
Galego -eira -eiro máis
עברית ־אי ־ן
हिन्दी -अक -इका -कारी -गर
Magyar -as -ász -bb -ci -es -ész -g -i -lógus -os -s -us
Հայերեն -իչ -ցի ավելի
Italiano -ista più
日本語 もっと より 使い
ქართული -ელი
ខ្មែរ ជាង
한국어 -둥이 -러
Кыргызча -чи -чы
Latina -ior -or -tor
Македонски по-
Монгол -чин
Bahasa Melayu orang
Nederlands -er -se
Português -ão -eiro -ejar -enho -ense -er -ês -ista mais
Русский -анин -анка -ец -ка более
Svenska -are -bo -ist mer
Tagalog mas taga-
Türkçe -ci -cı -cu daha
Українська -атор -ер -ій -лка -ше
Tiếng Việt đồ hơn
Yorùbá oni-

Examples

read + -er → reader
cook + -er → cooker
compute + -er → computer
run + -er → runner
toast + -er → toaster
swim + -er → swimmer
“do good + -er → do-gooder
look + -er → looker (“an attractive person”)”
keep + -er → keeper (“a person or thing worth keeping”)”
astrology + -er → astrologer
baby boom + -er → baby boomer
conlang + -er → conlanger
cricket + -er → cricketer
trumpet + -er → trumpeter
zine + -er → ziner
six + -er → sixer
six foot + -er → six-footer
three-wheel + -er → three-wheeler
first grade + -er → first grader
percent + -er → percenter (“commission agent”)”
one hand + -er → one-hander (“one-man show”)”
oat + -er → oater (“a Western-themed movie”)”
birth + -er → birther
flat earth + -er → flat-earther
truth + -er → truther
woke + -er → woker
bacon + -er → baconer (“pig raised for bacon”)”
chocolate chip + -er → chocolate chipper (“cookie containing chocolate chips”)”
sternwheel + -er → sternwheeler (“vessel driven by a sternwheel”)”
piss + -er → pisser (“a hilariously funny event or situation”)”
New York + -er → New Yorker
London + -er → Londoner
Dublin + -er → Dubliner
New England + -er → New Englander
island + -er → islander
highland + -er → highlander
East End + -er → East-Ender
childer, calver, lamber, linder ("loins")”
hard + -er → harder
wet + -er → wetter
motley + -er → motlier
eerie + -er → eerier
clayey + -er → clayier
twitter, clamber, bicker, mutter, wander, flutter, flicker, slither, smother, sputter
disclaim + -er → disclaimer
remit + -er → remitter
misname + -er → misnomer
rebut + -er → rebutter
attain + -er → attainder
shive + -er → shiver
slive + -er → sliver
splint + -er → splinter
association + -er → soccer (“association football”)”
football + -er → footer (“association football”)”
rugby + -er → rugger
Radcliffe + -er → Radder (“a building at Oxford University”)”
clive + -er → cliver (“apt to cleave or adhere to, tenacious, expert as seizing”)”
slip + -er → slipper (“tending to make slip, slippery”)”
wake + -er → waker (“tending to wake, watchful”)”
“Li’er said hello to his father.”
“Yue’er began to laugh again and her tears shimmered like dew on a lotus leaf disturbed by a breeze. Then we heard a sound. It was Man’er.”
The fish was laid out on the table, but Ping’er had not come back, nor had his father.”
“Ying’er was not yet three years old. Li’er had always been the one to play with her or to carry her places on his back.”

CEFR level

C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
See all C2 English words →

See also

Learn this word in context

See -er used in real conversations inside our free language course.

Start Free Course

Know this word better than we do? Language is a living thing — help us keep it growing. Collaborate with Babel Free