Middle English Dictionary Entry
ēr(e n.(2)
Entry Info
| Forms | ēr(e n.(2) Also eire, yere. |
| Etymology | OE ær, eher; OHG ahir, ehir. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) The grain-bearing head of a cereal plant, as wheat, barley, or the like; also fig.; (b) a fruit-cluster, as of olives.
Associated quotations
a
- c1230(?a1200) *Ancr.(Corp-C 402)71a : Ha breken þe eares bi þe wei.
- (1340) Ayenb.(Arun 57)28 : Hit [corn] is uerst ase ine gerse, efterward ine yere.
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)219a/b : Strawe..is þe myddil stalk of corne bytwen þe roote and þe eere; in þe eere þe corn and seed is conteyned.
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)249a/b : By worchynge and rerynge of hete þe heedes of corne eeres been arrered vpward.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)4577 : I..sagh me bi Four-ten ers stand o quete [vr. whete].
- (?1440) Palladius (DukeH d.2)7.16 : Now gynneth barly repe..Er theer to breke and shede hit.
- a1450 3 KCol.(1) (Roy 18.A.10)31/12 : Barlich bigynneþ to haue eere and to wexe ripe.
- c1450(c1386) Chaucer LGW Prol.(1) (Benson-Robinson)76 : Ye han herbiforn..lad awey the corn, And I come after..And am ful glad yf I may fynde an ere Of any goodly word that ye han left.
- a1450(a1425) Mirk IPP (Cld A.2:Peacock)1390 : Ȝerus of corner [read: corne].
- c1450 De CMulieribus (Add 10304)583 : To thressh the greyn out of the eere.
- a1500 Lydg.LOL in Halliwell D.(Antq 134)p.952 : The seven ȝeris of grayne..This day be growe to fulle perfeccyoun.
- a1500 Mayer Nominale (Mayer)725 : Hec spica: a ner.
- a1500 Henley Husb.(Sln 686)44 : iij barley cornys þat is in þe mydiste off þe eyre makithe a enche.
b
- (c1384) WBible(1) (Dc 369(2))Zech.4.12 : What ben the two eris, or rijp fruyt, of the olyues [L spicae olivarum] that ben bysidis the two golden bilis?