ere
/ɛɚ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.14 in modern English
3
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
2
Unique Chars
Meaning
conj
before.
Archaic
contraction
A contraction of is, there, and the indefinite article. Mainly used in questions.
Informal
name
A language spoken on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
noun
Example Sentences
- "Thys is he of whome I ſpake / he that cõmeth after me / was befoꝛe me be cauſe he was yer thẽ I."
- "My ſelfe was ſtirring ere the breake of day, […]"
- "The hill-tops rejoicing will ere long be at their ruddiest, and blush Good-night."
- "Syꝛ, come downe ere my child die."
- "As plesaunt to the ere as the blacke sanctus Of a sad sorte vpon a mery pyn."
- "'Ere bit o' bacon in it, Kathleen?"
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɛɚ/
- British English: /ɛə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
ere that
Wiktionary’s coverage of Ere terms
Frequently Paired Words
Wiktionary’s coverage of Ere terms