pair

A1 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /pɛ(ə)ɹ/ UK /pɛə/ See IPA manual

Homophones

pare /pɛɹ/ pear /pɛɹ/

Freq #1898

Meanings

1

noun
Two things that match and are used together.

I bought a new pair of shoes yesterday.
2

noun
A single object made of two joined parts, like scissors or trousers.

I need a sharp pair of scissors to cut this paper.
3

noun
Two people who are together as partners or friends.

The two dancers made a wonderful pair.
4

verb
To put two things or people together as a set.

The teacher paired each student with a partner for the project.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

4 verb · to put two things or people... couple

More brace duo duplet dyad twosome

Word family

Forms pairedpairingpairsunpaired

Derived forms contrapairdispaireigenpairextrapairinterpairintrapairkeypairmultipairorthopairoverpairpair-horsepairbreaking

Related forms couple parity

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

base pair
two chemical bases joined together between complementary strands of DNA or RNA

Noun + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Good things come in pairs

Simplified etymology

Pair entered English in the Middle English period. It comes from Latin paria, “equal things,” formed from Latin par, “equal.”

Etymology

From Middle English paire, from Old French paire, from Latin paria (“equals”), neuter plural of par (“pair”). Related to pār (“equal”, adjective). Compare Saterland Frisian Poor (“pair”), West Frisian pear (“pair”), Dutch paar (“pair”), German Paar (“pair”), Italian paio (“pair”)

paire Middle English paria Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# pair

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /pɛ(ə)ɹ/
**IPA (UK):** /pɛə/
**Frequency rank:** 1898

## Meanings
1. Two things that match and are used together.
2. A single object made of two joined parts, like scissors or trousers.
3. Two people who are together as partners or friends.
4. To put two things or people together as a set.

## Examples
- I bought a new pair of shoes yesterday.
- I need a sharp pair of scissors to cut this paper.
- The two dancers made a wonderful pair.
- The teacher paired each student with a partner for the project.

## Synonyms
- brace
- couple
- duo
- duplet
- dyad
- twosome

## Derived Forms
- contrapair
- dispair
- eigenpair
- extrapair
- interpair
- intrapair
- keypair
- multipair
- orthopair
- overpair
- pair-horse
- pairbreaking

## Related Forms
- couple
- parity

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: paire
- Root: paria

## Etymology
From Middle English paire, from Old French paire, from Latin paria (“equals”), neuter plural of par (“pair”). Related to pār (“equal”, adjective). Compare Saterland Frisian Poor (“pair”), West Frisian pear (“pair”), Dutch paar (“pair”), German Paar (“pair”), Italian paio (“pair”)

## AI Etymology
Pair comes from Middle English paire, from Old French paire, from Latin paria (“equals”), neuter plural of par (“pair”). Related to pār (“equal”, adjective). Compare Saterland Frisian Poor (“pair”), West Frisian pear (“pair”), Dutch paar (“pair”), German Paar (“pair”), Italian paio (“pair”). Modern senses include two things that match and are used together and a single object made of two joined parts, like scissors or trousers. The wider word family includes derivatives such as contrapair, dispair, eigenpair, extrapair, interpair, and intrapair and related forms such as couple and parity.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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