pier

See also: Pier and píer

English

Etymology

Night Scene of Pier 9, Central Piers, Hong Kong

A small pier at a campsite in Canada

From Middle English pere (“bridge pillar”), from Medieval Latin pera, from Old Northern French pira (“breakwater”), from Vulgar Latin *petricus, from Latin petra.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pɪə/
(General American) enPR: pîr, IPA^(key): /pɪɹ/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
Homophone: peer

Noun

pier (plural piers)

A raised platform built from the shore out over water, supported on piles; used to secure, or provide access to shipping; a jetty.
Your boat is docked at the pier.
A similar structure, especially at a seaside resort, used to provide entertainment.
There is a gaming arcade on the pier.
A structure supporting the junction between two spans of a bridge.
- 1961 January, “Talking of Trains: The Severn Bridge disaster”, in Trains Illustrated, page 5:
  The force of the explosion demolished one pair of piers and two spans of the bridge crashed down into the river on top of the barges.
(architecture) A rectangular pillar, or similar structure, that supports an arch, wall or roof, or the hinges of a gate.

Derived terms

abutment pier
end-of-the-pier
pier glass
pierlike
pier table

Translations

raised platform built from the shore out over water

Arabic: رَصِيف‎ m (raṣīf)
Armenian: պիրս (pirs), կառանացից (hy) (kaṙanacʿicʿ)
Azerbaijani: iskele, pirs
Belarusian: пры́стань f (prýstanʹ), пірс m (pirs)
Bengali: জেটি (jeṭi)
Bulgarian: при́стан (bg) m (prístan), кей (bg) m (kej)
Burmese: ဆိပ် (my) (hcip)
Catalan: moll (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 碼頭／码头 (zh) (mǎtóu)
Czech: molo (cs) n
Danish: mole (da) c
Dutch: pier (nl) m
Esperanto: piero
Estonian: kai
Finnish: laituri (fi)
French: jetée (fr) f
Georgian: პირსი (ṗirsi), ნავმისადგომი (ka) (navmisadgomi)
German: Seebrücke (de) f, Anlegestelle (de) f, Kai (de) m
Greek: μώλος (el) m (mólos), αποβάθρα (el) f (apováthra)
Hebrew: מֵזַח‎ (he) m (mézakh)
Hindi: घाट (hi) m (ghāṭ)
Hungarian: móló (hu)
Icelandic: bryggja f
Irish: cé f
Italian: pontile (it) m, imbarcadero (it) m, molo (it) m
Japanese: 桟橋 (さんばし, sanbashi), 波止場 (はとば, hatoba), 埠頭 (ja) (ふとう, futō)
Kalmyk: пирстн (pirstn)
Kazakh: пирс (pirs)
Khmer: តីរវិថី (km) (təyraʔviʔtʰəy)
Korean: 교각 (ko) (gyogak), 부두 (ko) (budu)
Kyrgyz: пирс (pirs)
Lao: ທ່າ (thā)
Latin: mōlēs f
Latvian: piestātne f, mols m
Ligurian: meu m
Lithuanian: pirsas (lt) m
Macedonian: при́стан m (prístan), мост m (most)
Norman: cauchie f (Guernsey)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: brygge m or f
Nynorsk: brygge f, bryggje f
Persian: اسکله‎ (fa) (eskele)
Polish: pomost (pl) m, molo (pl) n
Portuguese: píer (pt) m, cais (pt) m
Russian: при́стань (ru) f (prístanʹ), пирс (ru) m (pirs), прича́л (ru) m (pričál), мол (ru) m (mol)
Scottish Gaelic: laimrig f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: пристаниште n
Roman: pristanište (sh) n
Slovak: mólo n
Spanish: muelle (es) m, embarcadero m, malecón (es) m
Swedish: brygga (sv) c, pir (sv)
Tagalog: piyer
Tajik: бандар (bandar), искала (iskala)
Thai: ท่า (th) (tâa)
Turkish: iskele (tr)
Ukrainian: при́стань f (prýstanʹ), пірс (uk) m (pirs)
Urdu: گھاٹ‎ m (ghāṭ)
Uzbek: pirs (uz), pristan (uz), iskala
Walloon: djetêye (wa) f
Welsh: pier m
Yiddish: דאָק‎ m (dok), מאָל‎ m (mol)

similar structure used to provide entertainment

Dutch: pier (nl) m
Finnish: laituri (fi)
French: jetée (fr) f
Japanese: 桟橋 (さんばし, sanbashi)
Polish: molo (pl) n
Swedish: brygga (sv)
Welsh: pier m

structure used to accommodate ships

Bulgarian: пристан (bg) m (pristan)
Finnish: laituri (fi)
French: ponton (fr) m
Polish: pirs (pl) m
Scottish Gaelic: laimrig f
Swedish: pir (sv), brygga (sv)

structure supporting the junction between two spans of a bridge

Bulgarian: опора (bg) f (opora)
Czech: pilíř (cs) m
Dutch: pijler (nl) m
Esperanto: piero
Finnish: pilari (fi)
French: pile (fr) f
German: Brückenpfeiler (de) m
Italian: pilastro (it) m, pontile (it) m
Japanese: 橋脚 (ja) (きょうきゃく, kyōkyaku)
Korean: 교각 (ko) (gyogak)
Norwegian: brupilar
Polish: filar (pl) m
Portuguese: pilar (pt) m
Russian: сва́я (ru) f (svája), бык (ru) m (byk)
Spanish: pilar (de puente) m
Swedish: bropelare c
Walloon: pilasse (wa) f, pilé (wa) m

rectangular pillar, or similar structure, that supports an arch, wall or roof

Bulgarian: коло́на (bg) f (kolóna), стълб (bg) m (stǎlb)
Finnish: pilari (fi)
French: pilier (fr) m
German: Pfeiler (de) m
Irish: piara m
Italian: pilastro (it) m
Japanese: 柱 (ja) (はしら, hashira)
Korean: 교각 (ko) (gyogak)
Polish: filar (pl) m
Portuguese: pilastra (pt) f
Russian: столб (ru) m (stolb), просте́нок (ru) m (prosténok)
Spanish: pilar (es) m
Swedish: pelare (sv)
Walloon: pilé (wa) m, pilasse (wa) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Georgian: ^{(please verify)} ბურჯი (burǯi)
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 교각 (ko) (gyogak)

Anagrams

Peri, peri, peri-, prie, ripe

Dutch

Pronunciation

Rhymes: -ir
audio (file)

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch pier, probably from the name Pierre.

Noun

pier m (plural pieren, diminutive piertje n)

(zoology) A worm, earthworm (in Flanders)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English pier.

Noun

pier m (plural pieren, diminutive piertje n)

(architecture) A pier, jetty

Derived terms

wandelpier

Descendants

→ Papiamentu: pir

Etymology 3

Unknown; Flanders only

Alternative forms

piere (obsolete)

Noun

pier m (plural pieren, diminutive piertje n)

(archaic) A physical trap
(archaic) A figurative trap, ambush
(archaic) A place one is trapped in:
1. a prison
2. a rabbit den

Derived terms

pieren
(trap types) steenpier(e), vliegepier(e)
pierkoorde

Verb

pier

first-person singular present indicative of pieren
imperative of pieren

References

M. J. Koenen & J. Endepols, Verklarend Handwoordenboek der Nederlandse Taal (tevens Vreemde-woordentolk), Groningen, Wolters-Noordhoff, 1969 (26th edition) [Dutch dictionary in Dutch]

Anagrams

prei
riep

Latin

Verb

pier

first-person singular present passive subjunctive of piō

Middle English

Noun

pier

Alternative form of pere (“peer”)

Adjective

pier

Alternative form of pere (“equal”)

Romanian

Verb

pier

first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive of pieri

Romansch

Alternative forms

(Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader) biera

Noun

pier f (plural piers)

(Sutsilvan) beer, ale

Synonyms

gervosa

Slovak

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [pi̯er]

Noun

pier

genitive plural of pero