seer

[see-er for 1; seer for 2–4]

See more synonyms for seer on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person who sees; observer.
a person who prophesies future events; prophet: Industry seers predicted higher profits.
a person endowed with profound moral and spiritual insight or knowledge; a wise person or sage who possesses intuitive powers.

a person who is reputed to have special powers of divination, as a crystal gazer or palmist.

Origin of seer

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at see¹, -er¹

Synonyms for seer

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2. oracle, soothsayer, augur.

seer

[seer, sair]

noun

ser.

Origin of seer

First recorded in 1610–20

ser

or seer

[seer, sair]

noun

a unit of weight in India, varying in value but usually 1/40 of a maund: the government ser is divided into 80 tolas of 180 English grains and equals nearly 2 pounds 1 ounce avoirdupois (950 grams).

Origin of ser

Borrowed into English from Hindi around 1810–20

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for seer

forecaster, soothsayer, prophet, oracle, augur, diviner, medium, psychic, fortune-teller

Examples from the Web for seer

Contemporary Examples of seer

Bob Dylan makes the theory of relativity worth caring about at all: he is a seer.
Bob Dylan: Why We Can Never Know Him
Elizabeth Wurtzel
November 9, 2013

Historical Examples of seer

How dove I know where the 'seer lives at this hour o' the night?
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 350, December 1844
Various
Then Arexion the seer sacrificed, and at the first essay the victims were favourable.
Anabasis
Xenophon
The vision seen in the crystal does not exist objectively, but only in the mind of the seer.
Telepathy
W. W. Baggally
Perhaps, had that seer of the future been a friend, I should have been secretly saddened.
Some Reminiscences
Joseph Conrad
The name "seer" indicates the nature of this kind of prophecy.
History of Religion
Allan Menzies

British Dictionary definitions for seer

seer

noun

a person who can supposedly see into the future; prophet
a person who professes supernatural powers
a person who sees

Derived Formsseeress, fem n

seer

noun

a variant spelling of ser

ser

seer

noun

a unit of weight used in India, usually taken as one fortieth of a maund

Word Origin for ser

from Hindi

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for seer

late 14c., "one to whom divine revelations are made," agent noun from see (v.). Originally rendering Latin videns, Greek bleptor (from Hebrew roeh) in Bible translations (e.g. I Kings ix:9). Literal sense of "one who sees" is attested from early 15c.

seer in Medicine

Ser

abbr.

serine