Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

deer

/dɪə/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: 4.12 in modern English

Syllables
deer
IPA
/dɪə/
5
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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.

Countable

noun

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.

Countable

noun

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.

Countable

noun

The meat of such an animal, obtained through the process of hunting or from specialized deer farms; venison.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

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”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: der, dēor, *deuʀ, *deuzą, *dʰewsóm, *deru

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /dɪə/
  • British English: /dɪə/

Usage

Inflected Forms

Derived Forms

Phrases

Frequently Paired Words

Synonyms

Homonyms

Rhymes With

Questions

How do you pronounce deer?
The recorded pronunciation is /dɪə/.
What does deer mean?
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.
Where does deer come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce deer

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “deer”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/dɪə/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “deer”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “deer” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.