peer

SayPEER/pɪ(ə)ɹ/UK/pɪə̯/

Pluralpeers

Verbpeers, peering, peered

9 meanings of peer

Practice

1
equalnouncountable
A person of the same age, rank, ability, or standing as another, or a thing of equal value.
The committee asked each scientist to have a peer check the results before publication.
Among midsize sedans, this model outperforms its peers in fuel economy.
Similarequal, counterpart, contemporary
Note
To have no peer, as Dryden's fox says of a singer, is to be matchless, and to consort 'only with their peers' is to keep to one's own level. Peer review and peer-to-peer both grow from this sense.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The quoted words 'only with their peers' occur in the cited expression about consorting. gutenberg.org
Peer review develops from peer meaning a fellow of comparable standing or ability. en.wiktionary.org
Peer-to-peer develops from the sense of equal partners. en.wiktionary.org
2
look closelyverbintransitive
To look with difficulty or concentration, as if searching for something.
The detective peered into the dim warehouse before stepping inside.
Visitors peer through the glass to watch the chicks hatch.
UsageUsually with a direction word: peer into, peer through, peer at.
Similarsquint, gaze, peep, peek, stare
Note
Edgar Rice Burroughs sets it beside peek in Tarzan of the Apes (1912). The noun meaning an equal shares its spelling but is a different word, from Latin pār.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Edgar Rice Burroughs uses peek and peer together in Tarzan of the Apes. gutenberg.org
The first book edition appeared in 1914. The story had appeared in The All-Story in October 1912. digitalcommons.winthrop.edu
The equal noun is etymologically distinct from the looking verb and derives from Latin pār. gutenberg.org
3
companionnounarchaiccountable
A person one keeps company with; a comrade or associate.
He all his Peeres in beautie did surpas,
1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
Similarcomrade, companion, associate, fellow
4
noblenouncountable
A titled member of the nobility, who in earlier times enjoyed rights and privileges denied to commoners.
As a peer, the duke was entitled to sit in the House of Lords.
Several peers spoke against the bill during the debate in the Lords.
UsageCommon in a peer of the realm, hereditary peers and life peers.
Similarnoble, lord, nobleman, aristocrat
Oppositecommoner
Note
Here a word for 'equal' names the nobility: peers were equals of one another, set above commoners. Peers once had privileges such as trial by fellow nobles. Until 1999, most hereditary peers also had an automatic seat in the House of Lords. Milton's 'noble peer of mickle trust and power' shows the older poetic use.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
Peer has the sense 'equal', alongside its nobiliary sense. en.wiktionary.org
Peers were regarded as equals within their order. publications.parliament.uk
Peers held social precedence over commoners. penelopejcorfield.com
Peers formerly enjoyed trial by fellow peers. parliament.uk
The quoted wording occurs in John Milton's Comus. gutenberg.org

Less common meanings

5
a looknouncountable
A look or a glance.
Similarlook, glance, peek, peep
6
verbobsoleteintransitive
To become visible; to emerge into view.
And as the sun breaks through the darkest clouds, / So honour peereth in the meanest habit.
c. 1590, William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”
I, I, let you alone, cunning Artificer! / See, hovv his gorget peeres aboue his govvne; / To tell the people, in vvhat danger he vvas.
1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy
Note
Here the looking is turned around: instead of a person peering at something, the thing itself peers out and is seen. Shakespeare uses it in The Taming of the Shrew, where honor "peereth in the meanest habit," and Ben Jonson's Catiline His Conspiracy (1611) has a gorget that "peeres aboue his govvne." The sense is obsolete and suits period pastiche. In modern prose, readers will hear the searching-look sense used figuratively.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
Peer can mean to become visible or appear. gutenberg.org
Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew contains the quoted words, spoken by Petruchio. gutenberg.org
Ben Jonson wrote Catiline His Conspiracy. openlibrary.org
Catiline His Conspiracy was first published in 1611. en.wikipedia.org
The play contains the quoted description of a gorget. en.wiktionary.org
7
verbobsoletetransitive
To make someone or something equal in rank to another.
Being now Peered with the Lord Chancellor, and the Earl of Essex.
1670, Peter Heylyn, Aerius Redivivus
Similarequate
Note
A transitive verb from the 'equal' noun, built as peer one person with another. It can appear in the passive: Peter Heylyn's Aerius Redivivus (1670) describes a man 'Peered with the Lord Chancellor, and the Earl of Essex.' Don't confuse it with the looking verb. That verb is intransitive and probably comes from a separate Germanic root.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
The equal-rank verb shares the etymology of the noun meaning an equal. en.wiktionary.org
Peter Heylyn wrote Aerius Redivivus, first published in 1670. en.wikipedia.org
Heylyn's work contains the quoted wording, using the equal-rank verb in the passive with 'with'. en.wiktionary.org
The looking verb is intransitive and has a separate Germanic etymology. en.wikisource.org
A Germanic derivation is documented for the looking verb. en.wikisource.org
8
verb
To carry traffic terminating on one's own network to and from another network on an equal basis, usually without charge, unlike transit, where one pays another provider to carry one's traffic.
9
nouncolloquial
Someone who pees; a person who urinates.
Submissive peeing, on the other hand, IS related to anxiety. But submissive peeing is not marking. A submissive peer is generally a very submissive dog.
2003, “Re: do female's "mark" their territory?”, in rec.pets.dogs.behavior (Usenet)

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of peer apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 2, 5–6

From Middle English peren or piren ("to peer, gaze"), perhaps from an Old English *pȳran ("to look"), going back to Proto-West Germanic *pūrijan ("to look") and related to words in Frisian, Dutch, and Low Saxon meaning "to look" or "to squint." The sense "to be visible" is perhaps a shortening of appear.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

The verb comes from Middle English peren or piren, meaning 'to peer, gaze'. en.wiktionary.org
A possible ancestor is reconstructed Old English *pȳran, meaning 'to look'. en.wiktionary.org
The proposed Old English ancestor derives from reconstructed Proto-West Germanic *pūrijan, meaning 'to look'. en.wiktionary.org
Related Frisian, Dutch, and Low Saxon words mean 'to look' or 'to squint'. en.wiktionary.org
The sense 'to be visible' may result from shortening appear. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 1, 3–4, 7

The noun peer goes back to Latin pār, which reached Middle English as pere by way of Old French per and Anglo-Norman peir. Pair and par are doublets of peer.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

The noun peer derives ultimately from Latin pār. en.wiktionary.org
The Middle English form pere is an ancestor of peer. en.wiktionary.org
The borrowing route includes Old French per and Anglo-Norman peir. en.wiktionary.org
Pair and par are doublets of peer. en.wiktionary.org