pear
English
Photo of a pair of pears on a tree
Etymology
From Middle English pere, from Old English pere, from Proto-West Germanic *peru, from Vulgar Latin *pira, originally the plural of Latin pirum but reconstrued as a feminine singular, ultimately a loanword from an unknown Mediterranean substrate source. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Peere (“pear”), Dutch peer (“pear”), Danish pære (“pear”), French poire (“pear”), German Birne (“pear”), Icelandic pera (“pear”), Swedish päron (“pear”).
Pronunciation
Audio (UK) (file)
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /pɛə/, [pʰeə]
- (General American) enPR: pâr, IPA(key): /pɛɚ/
- (Indian English) IPA(key): /ˈpiːə(r)/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
- Homophones: pair, pare
Noun
pear (plural pears)
- An edible fruit produced by the pear tree, similar to an apple but typically elongated towards the stem.
- A type of fruit tree (Pyrus communis).
- Synonym: pear tree
- The wood of the pear tree (pearwood, pear wood).
- Choke pear (a torture device).
- (Jamaica) avocado, alligator pear
- A desaturated chartreuse yellow colour, like that of a pear.
- pear:
Hypernyms
- fruit
Hyponyms
- anchovy pear (Grias cauliflora)
- apple pear (Pyrus pyrifolia)
- Asian pear (Pyrus pyrifolia)
- balsam pear (Momordica charantia, Citrullus lanatus)
- butter pear
- cactus pear (Opuntia spp.)
- Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana)
- Chinese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia)
- Chinese white pear (Pyrus × bretschneideri)
- choke pear
- common pear (Pyrus communis)
- European pear (Pyrus communis)
- garlic pear (Crateva spp.)
- grape pear (Amelanchier canadensis)
- hard pear (Olinia ventosa)
- Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia)
- Korean pear (Pyrus pyrifolia)
- Le Conte pear
- Malvern pear
- Moorcroft pear
- nashi pear
- sand pear (Pyrus pyrifolia))
- snow pear (Pyrus nivalis)
- snowy pear
- Stinking Bishop pear
- strawberry pear (Hylocereus spp.)
- sugar pear
- Taiwan pear, Taiwanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia))
- vegetable pear (Sechium edule)
- vine pear
- wax pear
- willowleaf pear, willow-leafed pear (Pyrus salicifolia)
Derived terms
- alligator pear
- apples and pears
- avocado pear
- butter pear
- choke pear
- go pear-shaped, pear-shaped
- pear apple
- pear blight
- pear drop
- pear-encrinite
- pear-gauge
- pear haw (Crataegus spp.)
- pear leaf blister mite (Eriophyes pyri)
- pear leaf blister moth (Leucoptera malifoliella)
- pear leaf-curling midge, pear leaf midge
- pear louse
- pear midge (Contarinia pyrivora)
- pearmonger
- pear orchard
- pear oyster scale (Pseudaulacaspis pentagona)
- pear plum
- pear psylla (Psylla pyri)
- pear quince
- pear shell
- pear slug (Caliroa cerasi)
- pear-sucker
- pear-thorn
- pear thrips (Taeniothrips inconsequens)
- pear tree, peartree, Pear Tree
- pear-wise
- pear-withe
- pear-wood
- peary
- perry
- prickly pear (Opuntia spp.)
- wooden pear
Descendants
- → Tokelauan: pea
Translations
fruit
|
tree
|
wood of the pear tree
|
See also
- warden
Anagrams
- Earp, Pera, Rape, aper, pare, prae-, præ-, rape, reap
Galician
Peares or poldras across the river Ulla
Peares or poldras across the river Verdugo
Alternative forms
- piar
Etymology
From Vulgar Latin *pilare, from Latin pīla (“pillar”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /peˈaɾ/
Noun
pear m (plural peares)
- pillar
- Synonym: columna
- window sill
- Synonym: peitoril
- one of several stone pillars placed by way of a bridge
- Synonym: poldra
Related terms
- Os Peares
References
- “pear” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
- “piar” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
- “pear” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
- “pear” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
- “piar” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
Jamaican Creole
One pear cut inna two.
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈpʲeɹ/
- Hyphenation: pear
Noun
pear (plural: pear dem or pears dem, quantified: pear)
- avocado
- Mi waan sum ackee an pear.
- I'd like a few akees and avocados.
See also
- ackee
Further reading
- Richard Allsopp, editor, Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage, Kingston, Jamaica: University of the West Indies Press, 1996 (2003 printing), →ISBN, page 434
West Frisian
Etymology
From Old Frisian pār, ultimately from Latin pār.
Noun
pear n (plural pearen, diminutive pearke)
- pair, couple
Further reading
- “pear”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011