deer

deer
\ \ [OE] In Old English, dēor meant ‘animal’ in general, as opposed to ‘human being’ (as its modern Germanic relatives, German tier, Dutch dier, and Swedish djur, still do). Apparently connected forms in some other Indo-European languages, such as Lithuanian dustigasp’ and Church Slavonic dychatibreathe’, suggest that it comes via a prehistoric Germanic *deuzom from Indo-European *dheusóm, which meant ‘creature that breathes’ (English animal and Sanskrit prānin- ‘living creature’ have similar semantic origins). Traces of specialization in meaning to ‘deer’ occur as early as the 9th century (although the main Old English word for ‘deer’ was heorot, source of modern English hart), and during the Middle English period it became firmly established, driving out ‘animal’ by the 15th century.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Deer — (d[=e]r), n. sing. & pl. [OE. der, deor, animal, wild animal, AS. de[ o]r; akin to D. dier, OFries. diar, G. thier, tier, Icel. d[=y]r, Dan. dyr, Sw. djur, Goth. dius; of unknown origin. [root]71.] 1. Any animal; especially, a wild animal. [Obs.] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • deer — (dîr) n. pl. deer ▸ Any of various hoofed ruminant mammals of the family Cervidae, characteristically having deciduous antlers borne chiefly by the males. The deer family includes the white tailed deer, elk, moose, and caribou. ╂ [Middle English… …   Word Histories

  • Deer — heißen: Deer (Arkansas), Vereinigten Staaten Deer (Missouri), Vereinigten Staaten Deer (New Mexico), Vereinigten Staaten Deér, namentlich: Josef Deér (József, 1905–1972), ungarischer Historiker Siehe auch: John Deere, Landmaschinenhersteller… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • deer — [ dır ] (plural deer or deers) noun count * a large brown animal with long thin legs. The adult male deer is called a stag and may have antlers growing from its head. The female deer is called a doe and a young deer is called a fawn …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • deer — O.E. deor animal, beast, from P.Gmc. *deuzam, the general Germanic word for animal (as opposed to man), but often restricted to wild animal (Cf. O.Fris. diar, Du. dier, O.N. dyr, O.H.G. tior, Ger. Tier animal, Goth. dius wild animal, also Cf. R …   Etymology dictionary

  • deer — [dir] n. pl. deer or deers [ME der < OE deor, wild animal, akin to Ger tier, ON dȳr < IE base * dhewes, *dheus , to stir up, blow, breathe (> DUSK, DOZE1, FURY): for sense development cf. ANIMAL] 1. any of a family (Cervidae) of… …   English World dictionary

  • deer — [dıə US dır] n plural deer ↑antler [: Old English; Origin: deor animal ] a large wild animal that can run very fast, eats grass, and has horns …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • deer — ► NOUN (pl. same) ▪ a hoofed grazing or browsing animal, the male of which usually has branched bony antlers that are shed annually. ORIGIN Old English, originally also denoting any quadruped …   English terms dictionary

  • Deer — This article is about the ruminant animal. For other uses, see Deer (disambiguation). Fawn and Stag redirect here. For other uses, see Fawn (disambiguation) and Stag (disambiguation). Deer Temporal range: Early Oligocene–Recent …   Wikipedia

  • deer — /dear/, n., pl. deer, (occasionally) deers. 1. any of several ruminants of the family Cervidae, most of the males of which have solid, deciduous antlers. 2. any of the smaller species of this family, as distinguished from the moose, elk, etc.… …   Universalium

  • Deér — Josef Deér (auch: József Deér) (* 4. März 1905 in Budapest; † 26. September 1972 in Bern) war ein ungarischer Historiker. Der Sohn eines Apothekers und einer Lehrerin studierte von 1923 bis 1929 an den Universitäten Budapest und Wien Geschichte.… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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