seer1
[see-er for 1; seer for 2–4]
- 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.
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Origin of seer1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for seer on Thesaurus.com2. oracle, soothsayer, augur.
seer2
[seer, sair]
- ser.
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Origin of seer2
First recorded in 1610–20
ser
or seer
[seer, sair]
- 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).
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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
Examples from the Web for seer
Contemporary Examples
Bob Dylan makes the theory of relativity worth caring about at all: he is a seer.
Historical Examples
How dove I know where the 'seer lives at this hour o' the night?
Then Arexion the seer sacrificed, and at the first essay the victims were favourable.
AnabasisXenophon
The vision seen in the crystal does not exist objectively, but only in the mind of the seer.
TelepathyW. W. Baggally
Perhaps, had that seer of the future been a friend, I should have been secretly saddened.
Some ReminiscencesJoseph Conrad
The name "seer" indicates the nature of this kind of prophecy.
History of ReligionAllan Menzies
seer1
- a person who can supposedly see into the future; prophet
- a person who professes supernatural powers
- a person who sees
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seer2
- a variant spelling of ser
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ser
seer
- a unit of weight used in India, usually taken as one fortieth of a maund
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Word Origin
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
n.
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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Ser
- serine
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.