deer
UK /dɪə/ · US /dɪɹ/ noun, proper noun
Forms deers
- noun (countable) A ruminant mammal with hooves and often antlers, of the family Cervidae, or one of several similar animals from related families of the order Artiodactyla, such as the musk deer or mouse deer.
- noun (countable; in particular) Such a mammal that is in the family Cervidae.
- noun (countable; in particular) One of the smaller animals of the family Cervidae, distinguished from a moose or elk. “I wrecked my car after a deer ran across the road.”
- noun (uncountable) The meat of such an animal, obtained through the process of hunting or from specialized deer farms; venison. “I'd never had deer before I ate dinner with the Johanssens. In time I learned to like it; its gaminess is an acquired taste.”
- noun (countable, puristic, otherwise obsolete or archaic) Any animal, especially a quadrupedal mammal as opposed to a bird, fish, etc.
- proper noun Villages in Aberdeenshire, Scotland: See New Deer and Old Deer.
- proper noun A township in Roseau County, Minnesota, United States.
- proper noun An unincorporated community in Osage County, Missouri, United States.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English der, deer (“animal, deer”), from Old English dēor (“animal”), from Proto-West Germanic *deuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *deuzą, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewsóm (“living thing”), from *dʰéws (“breath”), full-grade derivative of *dʰwes-.
Cognate with Scots deer (“deer”), North Frisian dier (“animal, beast”), West Frisian dier (“animal, beast”), Dutch dier (“animal, beast”), German Low German Deer, Deert (“animal”), German Tier (“animal, beast”), Swedish djur (“animal, beast”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk dyr (“animal, beast”), Icelandic dýr (“animal, beast”).
Related also to Albanian dash (“ram”) (possibly), Lithuanian daũsos (“upper air; heaven”), Lithuanian dùsti (“to sigh”), Russian душа́ (dušá, “breath, spirit”), Lithuanian dvė̃sti (“to breathe, exhale”), Sanskrit ध्वंसति (dhvaṃsati, “he falls to dust”).
For the semantic development compare Latin animālis (“animal”), from anima (“breath, spirit”).
Probably from Pictish *deru (“oak”), from Proto-Brythonic *dar.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any animal; especially, a wild animal. [Obs.] Chaucer.
- noun A ruminant of the genus Cervus, of many species, and of related genera of the family Cervidæ. The males, and in some species the females, have solid antlers, often much branched, which are shed annually. Their flesh, for which they are hunted, is called venison.
Etymology [OE. der, door, animal, wild animal, AS. deór; akin to D. dier, OFries. diar, G. thier, tier, Icel. d, Dan. dyr, Sw. djur, Goth. dius; of unknown origin. 1. Any animal; especially, a wild animal. [Obs.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “deer”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details