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bier

(bîr)

1. A stand on which a corpse or a coffin containing a corpse is placed before burial.

2. A coffin along with its stand: followed the bier to the cemetery.

[Alteration (influenced by French bière, coffin) of Middle English ber, from Old English bēr; see bher-¹ in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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