-ier

¹ American  

1. variant of -er, usually in nouns designating trades.

   collier; clothier; furrier; glazier.

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-ier ² American  

1. a noun suffix occurring mainly in loanwords from French, often simply a spelling variant of -eer, with which it is etymologically identical (bombardier; brigadier; financier; grenadier ); it is also found on an older and semantically more diverse group of loanwords that have stress on the initial syllable (barrier; courier; courtier; terrier ). Recent loanwords from French may maintain the modern French pronunciation with loss of the final r sound (croupier; dossier; hotelier ).

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-ier British  

suffix

1. a variant of -eer

   brigadier

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Etymology

Origin of -ier¹

Middle English -ier ( e ), variant of -yer ( e ) ( -yer ), equivalent to -i- v. stem ending + -ere -er ¹, probably reinforced by Old French -ier < Latin -ārius -ary ( soldier )

Origin of -ier¹

< French, Old French < Latin -ārius, -āria, -ārium -ary; -aire, -eer, -er ²

Example Sentences

Aisha Randhawa misspelled “cuirassier,” a mounted soldier wearing a cuirass, a piece of armor covering the body from neck to waist, ending the word in “eer” instead of “ier.”

From Los Angeles Times

Headed by Thomas Pyle, a former director of federal affairs for Koch Industries, IER has already delivered its fossil fuel industry wish list to the Trump administration.

From Salon

Travis Fisher, an economist and current Energy staffer, most recently worked for IER, where he wrote columns opposing renewable energy and defending fossil fuels.

From Salon

Big funders of IER have included ExxonMobil, the American Petroleum Institute, several Koch-backed nonprofits and two Koch family foundations.

From Salon

In an October 2016 blog published on the IER website, Simmons called for ending federal subsidies and tax breaks for wind and solar production.

From Seattle Times