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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

Example Sentences

"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

“Hong Kong has become much more inclusive for mainlanders,” said Zheng Huiwen, the manager at one of the Hong Kong branches of Tai Er Pickled Fish, a Sichuan fish restaurant from mainland China.

From New York Times • Jun. 20, 2024

God we hope not, we don’t want to work those nights … Er, let’s hope so, for democracy!

From Slate • Apr. 13, 2024

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

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

Related Words

• cry
• exclamation
• expletive
• insertion
• interpolation
• interposition
• shout