deer

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A wild animal with long legs and hooves; the males often have antlers.

   A family of deer crossed the road in front of our car.

2. 2
   noun

   The meat of a deer; venison.

   For dinner we were served roast deer with vegetables.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Deer is inherited from Old English, when it could denote any four-footed animal rather than only the modern class of deer. Its meaning narrowed during the Middle Ages, and the word ultimately goes back to an Indo-European root meaning “breathing creature.”

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”), Norwegian dyr (“animal, beast”), Icelandic dýr (“animal, beast”), Danish dyr (“animal, beast”). Related…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary