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• er
  er

  interjection

  (used to express or represent a pause, hesitation, uncertainty, etc.)
• Er
  Er

  erbium.
• ER
  ER

  abbreviation

  earned run.
• -er
  -er

  a suffix used in forming nouns designating persons from the object of their occupation or labor (hatter; tiler; tinner; moonshiner ), or from their place of origin or abode (Icelander; southerner; villager ), or designating either persons or things from some special characteristic or circumstance (six-footer; three-master; teetotaler; fiver; tenner ).
• E.R.
  E.R.

  abbreviation

  King Edward.

er

¹ American  

[uh, er] / ə, ər /

interjection

1. (used to express or represent a pause, hesitation, uncertainty, etc.)

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Er ² American  

Symbol, Chemistry.

1. erbium.

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ER ³ American  

abbreviation

1. Baseball. earned run.

2. efficiency report.

3. emergency room.

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-er ⁴ American  

1. a suffix used in forming nouns designating persons from the object of their occupation or labor (hatter; tiler; tinner; moonshiner ), or from their place of origin or abode (Icelander; southerner; villager ), or designating either persons or things from some special characteristic or circumstance (six-footer; three-master; teetotaler; fiver; tenner ).

2. a suffix serving as the regular English formative of agent nouns, being attached to verbs of any origin (bearer; creeper; employer; harvester; teacher; theorizer ).

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-er ⁵ American  

1. a noun suffix occurring in loanwords from French in the Middle English period, most often names of occupations (archer; butcher; butler; carpenter; grocer; mariner; officer ), but also other nouns (corner; danger; primer ). Some historical instances of this suffix, as in banker or gardener, where the base is a recognizable modern English word, are now indistinguishable from denominal formations with -er1, as miller or potter.

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-er ⁶ American  

1. a termination of nouns denoting action or process: dinner; rejoinder; remainder; trover .

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-er ⁷ American  

1. a suffix regularly used in forming the comparative degree of adjectives: harder; smaller .

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-er ⁸ American  

1. a suffix regularly used in forming the comparative degree of adverbs: faster .

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-er ⁹ American  

1. a formal element appearing in verbs having frequentative meaning: flicker; flutter; shiver; shudder .

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-er ¹⁰ American  

1. a suffix that creates informal or jocular mutations of more neutral words, which are typically clipped to a single syllable if polysyllabic, before application of the suffix, and which sometimes undergo other phonetic alterations: bed-sitter; footer; fresher; rugger . Most words formed thus have been limited to English public-school and university slang; few, if any, have become current in North America, with the exception of soccer, which has also lost its earlier informal character.

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E.R. ¹¹ American  

abbreviation

1. King Edward.

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E.R. ¹² American  

abbreviation

1. Queen Elizabeth.

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E.R. ¹³ American  

abbreviation

1. East Riding (Yorkshire).

2. East River (New York City).

3. emergency room.

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-er ¹ British  

suffix

1. a person or thing that performs a specified action

   reader

   decanter

   lighter

2. a person engaged in a profession, occupation, etc

   writer

   baker

   bootlegger

3. a native or inhabitant of

   islander

   Londoner

   villager

4. a person or thing having a certain characteristic

   newcomer

   double-decker

   fiver

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ER ² British  

abbreviation

1. (in the US) Emergency Room (in hospitals)

2. Elizabeth Regina

3. Eduardus Rex

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-er ³ British  

suffix

1. forming the comparative degree of adjectives ( deeper, freer, sunnier, etc) and adverbs ( faster, slower, etc)

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Er ⁴ British  

symbol

1. erbium

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er ⁵ British  

/ ə, ɜː /

interjection

1. a sound made when hesitating in speech

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er ⁶ British  

abbreviation

1. Eritrea

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Etymology

Origin of -er⁴

Middle English -er(e), a coalescence of Old English -ere agentive suffix (cognate with Old High German -āri, Gothic -areis, from unattested Germanic -arjaz, from unattested Slavic -arĭ, from Latin -ārius ) and Old English -ware suffix forming nouns of ethnic or residential origin (e.g., Rōmware “Romans”), cognate with Old High German -āri, from unattested Germanic -warioz “people”; see origin at -ary

Origin of -er⁵

Middle English < Anglo-French -er, equivalent to Old French -er, -ier < Latin -ārius, -ārium. Cf. -ary, -eer, -ier ²

Origin of -er⁶

< French, originally infinitive suffix -er, -re

Origin of -er⁷

Middle English -er ( e ), -re, Old English -ra, -re; cognate with German -er

Origin of -er⁸

Middle English -er ( e ), -re, Old English -or; cognate with Old High German -or, German -er

Origin of -er⁹

Middle English; Old English -r-; cognate with German - ( e ) r-

Origin of -er¹⁰

Probably modeled on nonagentive uses of -er ¹; said to have first become current in University College, Oxford, 1875–80

Origin of E.R.¹¹

From New Latin Edwardus Rex

Origin of E.R.¹²

From New Latin Elizabeth Regina

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

er Er ER -er E.R.

And they are doing so with their usual brand of nonsense and … er … “alternative facts.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

I assure you this is less about sisterly solidarity or my lingering affection for “Ted Lasso” or even a love of soccer – er, football.

From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026

There are things money can’t buy which, Tom $teyer — er, Steyer — is just the latest to discover.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026

The last years of the V8 era, once refuelling was banned at the end of 2009, fluctuated between intensely competitive and, er, not.

From BBC ● May 19, 2026

“Yes, Lord Ashton. I was on my way upstairs to the nursery, and I, er, slipped. I apologize for the intrusion.”

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

Er … 8% a year on average, or nearly a full percentage point per year better.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

"The specific name lii honors Li Er, the ancient Chinese philosopher better known as Laozi," said the research team, led by Bo Cai.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 22, 2026

But the current Draco obsession stems from the transliteration of his surname, "Ma Er Fu", which contains the Chinese characters for "horse" and "good fortune" -- an auspicious omen for the year ahead.

From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026

Like many a neo-noirist, Cheng Er thrives in these shadows.

From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2023

“Do you want a tissue? Er, never mind...” said Mini.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

In Spanish, he told William Mundo this was his second ER visit in as many days and handed him the discharge instructions he’d received.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

"While I'm working, I'm also on alert. Sometimes my wife suddenly calls, saying we need to take the child to the ER."

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Other examples in the suit: One motorcyclist told an ER he injured an ankle jumping off his bike to avoid a car.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

ER visits by immigrant patients eventually rebounded somewhat, but remained 10% lower than pre-enforcement levels in October 2025.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

A week after our dinner, Gus ended up in the ER with chest pain, and they admitted him overnight, so I drove over to Memorial the next morning and visited him on the fourth floor.

From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green

It appears that these inventive students took "soc" from the middle of the word "association" and added "-er," producing "soccer".

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026

Her th sounds were more like d sounds, pronouncing the word "those" like "doze," and if a word ended in -er, like "number," she said, "num-bah."

From Salon ● Sep. 25, 2022

The girl is embarrassed that she doesn’t understand, and replies, “I -er, oh, I don’t know, suh. I didn’t know you-er anybody could ride uh fish.”

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2020

In his entry on words ending in either -re or -er, Fowler, a Brit, noted that Americans were more consistent with their spelling.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 15, 2019

Soccer was supposed to be an easy one, but I forgot about the -er not -re at the end.

From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

But the betting here is that a viewer will be preoccupied by thinking about the multitude of head injuries someone like Robby would encounter in the E.R., and why he doesn’t wear a helmet himself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026

“Nobody ever wins a fight,” he solemnly tells the hot E.R. doctor who patches him up, echoing the words of Swayze’s sunrise tai chi practitioner.

From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2024

Presley, who’s vowed to work to expand Medicaid, responded from a shuttered E.R.:

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2023

The brick building at 1916 Post Alley opened in 1903 — four years before Pike Place Market started up a few blocks away — as the E.R.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 26, 2023

At Mercy, I sit in the waiting room of the E.R. and it doesn't take much to realize that this place doesn't have double locks on the doors or surveillance cameras everywhere like at Jamison.

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan

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