pear - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

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Photo of a pair of pears on a tree

Proto-West Germanic *peru

Middle English pere

English pear

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 Scots peer (“pear”), Saterland Frisian Peere, Pere (“pear”), West Frisian par (“pear”), Dutch peer (“pear”), Danish, Greenlandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk pære (“pear”), Faroese, Icelandic pera (“pear”), Swedish päron (“pear”), German Birne (“pear”), Luxembourgish Bier, Bir (“pear”), Vilamovian biyn (“pear”), Yiddish באַר (bar, “pear”), French poire (“pear”).

pear (plural pears)

  1. An edible fruit produced by the pear tree, similar to an apple but typically elongated towards the stem.
  2. A type of fruit tree (Pyrus communis).
    Synonym: pear tree
  3. The wood of the pear tree (pearwood, pear wood).
  4. Choke pear (a torture device).
  5. (Jamaica) avocado, alligator pear
  6. A desaturated chartreuse yellow colour, like that of a pear.
    pear:

fruit

tree

Peares or poldras across the river Ulla

Peares or poldras across the river Verdugo

From Vulgar Latin *pilare, from Latin pīla (“pillar”).

pear m (plural peares)

  1. pillar
    Synonym: columna
  2. window sill
    Synonym: peitoril
  3. one of several stone pillars placed by way of a bridge
    Synonym: poldra

One pear cut inna two.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

pear (plural **pear dem, quantified **pear)

  1. avocado
    Mi waan sum ackee an pear.
    I'd like a few akees and avocados.

From Old Frisian pār, ultimately from Latin pār.

pear n (plural pearen, diminutive pearke)

  1. pair, couple