deer

See also: Appendix:Variations of "deer"

English

A deer (1)

Two deer (1)

A Siberian musk deer

Etymology

From Middle English deere, dere, der, dier, deor (“small 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 dere, deir (“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”), Norwegian dyr (“animal, beast”), Icelandic dýr (“animal, beast”), Danish dyr (“animal, beast”).

Related also to Albanian dash (“ram”) (possibly), Lithuanian daũsos (“upper air; heaven”), Lithuanian dùsti (“to sigh”), Russian душа́ (dušá, “breath, spirit”), Lithuanian dvėsti (“to breathe, exhale”), Sanskrit ध्वंसति (dhvaṃsati, “he falls to dust”).

For the semantic development compare Latin animālis (“animal”), from anima (“breath, spirit”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɪə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dɪɹ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Scotland, some US) IPA^(key): /diːɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
• Homophones: dear, dir

Noun

deer (plural deer or (nonstandard) deers)

1. A ruminant mammal with antlers and hooves of the family Cervidae, or one of several similar animals from related families of the order Artiodactyla.
2. (in particular) One of the smaller animals of this family, distinguished from a moose or elk.

   I wrecked my car after a deer ran across the road.

   • 2020, Rumaan Alam, Leave the World Behind, Bloomsbury (2023), page 76:

     In the space beyond that, Rose saw a deer, with abbreviated velvet antlers and a cautious yet somehow also bored mien, considering her through dark, strangely human eyes.

3. The meat of such an animal; venison.

   Oh, I've never had deer before.

4. (obsolete, except in the phrase "small deer") Any animal, especially a quadrupedal mammal as opposed to a bird, fish, etc.
   • 1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act III, scene IV:

     But mice and rats and such small deer, have been Tom's food for seven long year.

Hypernyms

• (ruminant mammal): cervid

Hyponyms

• buck, hart (male deer); doe, hind (female deer); fawn (young deer); stag (adult deer)

Derived terms

• antideer
• axis deer
• Bactrian deer
• barking deer
• Bawean deer
• black-tailed deer
• brow-antlered deer
• Calamian deer
• Chinese water deer
• cloud deer
• Corsican red deer
• deer antler knife
• deerberry
• deerburger
• Deer Creek
• deerdom
• Deerfield
• deerflesh
• deer fly
• deerfly
• deer fly fever
• deerfold
• deerfood
• deergrass
• deergut
• deer-hair
• deerhood
• deerhorn
• deer horn knife
• deerhound
• deerie
• deer in the headlights
• deer in the headlight syndrome
• deerish
• Deer Island
• deer ked
• deerless
• deerlet
• deerlick
• deerlike
• deerling
• Deer Lodge
• deer meat
• deer moon
• deer mouse
• deer-neck
• deerness
• deer-pig
• deer scarer
• deershit
• deer-skin
• deerskin
• deerslaughter
• deerslayer
• deer stalker
• deerstalker
• deer stalking
• deerstealer
• deer's tongue
• deer tick
• deertoe
• deervetch
• Eld's deer
• European red deer
• fallow deer
• Formosan deer
• ghost deer
• giant deer
• Guinea deer
• hog deer
• Indian hog deer
• Indochinese hog deer
• Irish deer
• Japanese deer
• Java mouse-deer
• key deer
• kill-deer
• Maral deer
• marsh deer
• Mindanao mountain deer
• Mindoro deer
• moose deer, mouse-deer
• mountain deer
• mouse deer
• mule deer
• musk deer
• nondeer
• north Andean deer
• pampas deer
• Père David's deer
• Prince Alfred's deer
• ravine deer
• red deer
• reindeer
• rib-faced deer
• roedeer
• roe deer
• rusa deer
• Schomburgk's deer
• sika deer
• Sitka deer
• spotted deer
• teal deer
• telemetacarpal deer
• Thorold's deer
• Tsushima Island deer
• vampire deer
• Vietnamese deer
• Virginia deer
• water deer
• western roe deer
• White Deer
• white-tailed deer
• Yarkand deer
• zombie deer disease

 

Descendants

• Sranan Tongo: dia

Translations

animal of the family Cervidae

• Abenaki: nolka
• Afrikaans: takbok (af)
• Ainu: ユㇰ (yuk)
• Aklanon: usa
• Albanian: dre (sq) m, sutë (sq) f, drenushë (sq) f, sorkadhe (sq) f
• Algonquin: wàwàckèci
• Apache:

  Western Apache: bįįh

• Arabic: أَيِّل m (ʔayyil)
• Armenian: եղջերու (hy) (eġǰeru) (male), եղնիկ (hy) (eġnik) (female)
• Aromanian: tserbu m
• Assamese: হৰিণা (horina), হৰিণাপহু (horinapohu), হৰিণ (horin)
• Asturian: ciervu m, venáu (ast) m
• Aymara: taruka
• Azerbaijani: maral (az)
• Bashkir: болан (bolan)
• Basque: orein (eu)
• Bats: საგ class bd (sag)
• Bau Bidayuh: rusa
• Beaver: yaatune
• Belarusian: але́нь m (aljénʹ)
• Bengali: হরিণ (bn) (horin)
• Breton: karv (br) f
• Brunei Malay: payau
• Bulgarian: еле́н (bg) m (elén)
• Burmese: သမင် (my) (sa.mang)
• Buryat: оро (oro)
• Catalan: cérvol (ca) m
• Cebuano: usa
• Central Melanau: payau
• Chechen: сай (saj)
• Cherokee: ᎠᏫ (awi)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 鹿 (yue) (luk^6-2)

  Mandarin: 鹿 (zh) (lù)

• Chukchi: ӄораӈы
• Comanche: arʉka
• Cornish: karow
• Creek: eco
• Czech: jelen (cs) m, laň (cs) f
• Danish: hjort
• Dupaningan Agta: ogsa
• Dutch: hert (nl) n
• Egyptian: (hnn m), (jꜣywr m)
• Elfdalian: juort m
• Emilian: please add this translation if you can
• Erzya: сёкань (śokań)
• Esperanto: cervo (eo)
• Estonian: hirv
• Even: оран (oran)
• Evenki: орон (oron)
• Ewe: zi n
• Faroese: hjørtur m
• Finnish: hirvieläin (fi)
• French: cerf (fr) m, chevreuil (fr) m

  Middle French: cerf m

  Old French: cerf m

• Friulian: cierf m, cierv m
• Galician: cervo (gl)
• Georgian: ირემი (iremi)
• German: Hirsch (de) m
• Greek: ελάφι (el) n (eláfi), ζαρκάδι (el) n (zarkádi), (Gazella dorcas) δορκάδα (el) f (dorkáda), (Cervus elaphus) άλκη (el) f (álki)

  Ancient: ἔλαφος m or f (élaphos)

• Greenlandic: tuttorsuaq
• Guaraní: guasu (gn)
• Haitian Creole: sèf
• Hebrew: אייל \ אַיָּל (he) m ('ayál)
• Higaonon: saladung
• Hiligaynon: usa
• Hindi: हिरन (hi) (hiran), हरिण (hi) (hariṇ), मृग (hi) m (mŕg)
• Hixkaryana: koso
• Hopi: sowiʼyngwa
• Hungarian: szarvas (hu)
• Iban: rusa, bajai
• Icelandic: hjörtur (is) (krónhjörtur), rádýr (is) n
• Indonesian: kijang (id), rusa (id), menjangan (id)
• Ineseño: wɨ
• Ingrian: oleni
• Ingush: сай (saj)
• Interlingua: cervo
• Irish: fia m, os m, fiara m (collective)

  Old Irish: fíad m

• Italian: cervo (it) m, alce (it) f, renna (it) f, daino (it) m, capriolo (it) m, caribù (it) m
• Japanese: 鹿 (ja) (しか, shika), シカ (ja) (shika)
• Kannada: ಜಿಂಕೆ (kn) (jiṅke)
• Kaqchikel: masat
• Kashaya: bihše
• Kazakh: бұғы (būğy)
• Ket: сель
• Khmer: រមាំង (km) (rɔmeaŋ), ស្មាន់ (km) (sman)
• Kimaragang: tambang
• Korean: 사슴 (ko) (saseum)
• Koryak: ӄояӈа (qoyaŋa)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ئاسک (ask)

  Northern Kurdish: gakûvî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: бугу (ky) (bugu)
• Ladin: cerf
• Lao: ຟານ (fān), ກວາງ (lo) (kuāng)
• Latin: cervus (la) m, cerva f
• Latvian: briedis
• Ligurian: çervo m
• Lithuanian: elnias (lt) m, elnė f
• Lombard: cèrf m
• Low German:

  German Low German: hirsch m

• Lutshootseed: sqigʷəc
• Luxembourgish: Hirsch m
• Macedonian: елен m (elen)
• Malagasy: diera (mg), serfa (mg)
• Malay: rusa (ms), menjangan (ms), payau (ms), cewe angin
• Malayalam: മാൻ (ml) (māṉ)
• Maltese: ċerf (ċerf l-aħmar), ċerv m
• Manchu: ᠪᡠᡥᡡ (buhū)
• Mansaka: osa
• Manx: feeaih, feeaih
• Mapudungun: wemül
• Maranao: saladeng
• Marathi: हरीण (mr) n (harīṇ), हरण n (haraṇ)
• Maricopa: qwaq
• Mbyá Guaraní: guaxu
• Mi'kmaq: lentug anim, lntug anim, lentuk
• Mòcheno: hirsch m
• Mohegan-Pequot: noyuhc
• Mon: ဂြာဲ (mnw)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: буга (mn) (buga)

• Nahuatl:

  Central: mazatl

  Classical: mazatl

  Highland Puebla: masat

• Nanai: орон (oron)
• Nanticoke: att-que, yow-cat
• Navajo: bįįh
• Northern Khanty: вўԓы (wŭły)
• Northern Ohlone: já̄wi
• Northern Sami: ruksesgoddi
• Norwegian: hjort (no), rådyr (no)
• O'odham: sihki
• Occitan: cèrvi (oc) m
• Ojibwe: waawaashkeshi
• Okinawan: 鹿 (shikaa)
• Old Church Slavonic: ѥлєнь m (jelenĭ)
• Old English: heorot m
• Old Tupi: sygûasu
• Oroqen: kʊmaka, ponto
• Ossetian: саг (sag)
• Pali: miga m
• Pashto: سګه f (sagá)
• Persian: گوزن (fa) (gavazn), گاوکوهی (gâvkuhi)
• Piedmontese: serv m
• Pipil: masat, mazat
• Plautdietsch: Ree n, Hersch m
• Polish: jeleń (pl) m anim
• Portuguese: veado (pt) m, cervo (pt) m
• Quechua: taruka (Bolivia), taruca (Ecuador)
• Rayón Zoque: mʌꞌaj
• Rohingya: hórin
• Romagnol: zéruv m, zérov m
• Romani: cherbo m
• Romanian: cerb (ro) m, ciută (ro) f, căprioară (ro)
• Romansch: tschierv
• Russian: оле́нь (ru) m (olénʹ)
• Salar: buğu
• Sanskrit: मृग (sa) (mṛga), हरिण (sa) (hariṇa)
• Sardinian: crebu, crefu, cherbu, chervu
• Scottish Gaelic: fiadh (gd)
• Sebop: payau
• Sekapan: payau
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: јѐлен m, ко̀шута m, ла̏не m

  Roman: jèlen (sh) m, kòšuta (sh) f, lȁne (sh) n

• Seychellois Creole: serf
• Sicilian: cervu (scn) m
• Slovak: jeleň (sk) m, laň f
• Slovene: jelen (sl) m, košuta (sl) f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: jeleń m

• Southern Altai: ак кийик (ak kiyik), кийик (kiyik)
• Spanish: ciervo (es) m, venado (es) m (Latin America)
• Sranan Tongo: dia
• Swahili: kulungu (sw)
• Swedish: hjort (sv), hjortdjur (sv) n
• Sylheti: ꠅꠞꠤꠘ (orin)
• Tagal Murut: tambang
• Tagalog: usa (tl)
• Tai Dam: ꪀꪫꪱꪉ
• Tajik: гавазн (gavazn)
• Tamil: மான் (ta) (māṉ)
• Taos: pę́na
• Tatar: болан (tt) (bolan)
• Tausug: usa
• Telugu: జింక (te) (jiṅka)
• Tepecano: swímar
• Tetum: rusa
• Thai: กวาง (th) (gwaang)
• Tibetan: ཤ་བ (sha ba)
• Tocharian B: karse
• Tundra Nenets: ты (ti)
• Turkish: geyik (tr)
• Turkmen: sugun
• Tuvan: иви (ivi)
• Udmurt: пужей (pužej)
• Ukrainian: о́лень (uk) m (ólenʹ)
• Unami: ahtu
• Urdu: ہرن (hiran)
• Uyghur: بۇغا (bugha)
• Uzbek: bugʻu (uz)
• Vietnamese: hươu (vi), nai (vi)
• Volapük: stäg (vo)
• Welsh: carw (cy) m
• West Coast Bajau: payou
• West Frisian: hart
• Western Bukidnon Manobo: selazeng
• Yakut: таба (taba)
• Yaqui: maaso
• Yiddish: הירש m (hirsh)
• Yoruba: àgbọnrin
• Zazaki: kosbes n
• Zhuang: maxloeg, duzgyog (dialectal), duzlog (dialectal)

meat from the animal — see venison

Anagrams

• -dere, Eder, Rede, Reed, de re, dere, dree, rede, reed

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eːr

Verb

deer

1. inflection of deren:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

Hunsrik

Alternative forms

• tëyer (Wiesemann spelling)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈteːa/
• Rhymes: -eːa
• Syllabification: deer
• Homophone: Deer

Etymology 1

From Middle High German it, from Old High German ir. Compare Luxembourgish dir.

Pronoun

deer

1. you (plural)
2. (formal) you (singular)

Etymology 2

Pronoun

deer

1. stressed dative of du

Inflection

Hunsrik personal pronouns

	nominative		accusative		dative
	Proclitic	Enclitic	str.	unstr.	str.	unstr.
1st person singular	ich eich	-ich	mich meich		meer	mer m'r
2nd person singular (informal)	du dau/Dau	-du, -de -Dau, -De	dich deich/Deich		deer	der d'r/D'r
3rd person singular (m.)	er; där	-er	ihn	en	ihm	em
3rd person singular (f.)	sie; die	-se	sie / ihns	se	eer ehr	re
3rd person singular (n.)	es; das et, 't	's	es et	-et, -'t	ihm	em
1st person plural	meer	mer	uns uhs
2nd person plural	deer Ehr, Dehr	der	eich Auch
3rd person plural	sie; die	-se	sie	se	denne

References

• Piter Kehoma Boll (2021) “deer”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português (in Portuguese), 3rd edition, Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch, page 32, column 2

Limburgish

Alternative forms

• dier (some dialects, Maastrichtian)
  • dieer (Krefeld)
• deier (Sittard)
• deër (Southeast Limburgish)
  • Déër (Eupen)

Etymology

From Middle Dutch dier, from Old Dutch dier, from Proto-Germanic *deuzą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deːʀ/
• Hyphenation: deer
• Rhymes: -eːʀ

Noun

deer n

1. pet
2. beast, animal

Synonyms

• bees

Nawdm

Etymology

Compare Tem ɖeére.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /děːŕ/

Noun

deer (plural deera)

1. horse

References

• Bakabima, Koulon Stéphane, Nicole, Jacques (2018) Nawdm-French Dictionary‎^[1], SIL International

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian dēr, thēr, from Proto-West Germanic *þār. More at there.

Adverb

deer

1. there