ere
UK /ɛə/ · US /ɛɚ/ adverb, preposition, conjunction, contraction, proper noun
Also a form of ear
Forms eres yer 'ere
- adverb (obsolete) At an earlier time.
- preposition (poetic, archaic) Before; sooner than.
- conjunction (poetic, archaic) before.
- contraction (chiefly Ireland, informal) A contraction of is, there, and the indefinite article. Mainly used in questions. “'Ere bit o' bacon in it, Kathleen?”
- proper noun A language spoken on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
Etymology
From Middle English er, from Old English ǣr (adverb, conjunction, and preposition), from Proto-West Germanic *airi, from Proto-Germanic *airiz, comparative of Proto-Germanic *airi (“early”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éyeri (“day, morning”) (compare Avestan 𐬀𐬫𐬀𐬭 (ayar, “day”), Gk. ἠέριος (ēérios, “at daybreak”), see also era, Albanian herët (“early in the morning, at daybreak”) ). The adverb erstwhile retains the Old English superlative ǣrest (“earliest”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eer (“before”), Dutch eer (“before, sooner than”), German ehe (“before”).
Formed from is + there + a/an.
Webster’s 1913
- preposition Before; sooner than. [Archaic or Poetic]
- preposition Rather than.
- verb To plow. [Obs.] See Ear, v. t. Chaucer.
Etymology [AS. , prep., adv., & conj.; akin to OS., OFries., & OHG. , G. eher, D. eer, Icel. ar, Goth. air. sq. root204. Cf. Early, Erst, Or, adv.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “ere”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details