deer
Meanings
- A ruminant mammal with hooves and often antlers, of the family Cervidae, or one of several similar animals from related families of the order Artiodactyla, such as the musk deer or mouse deer.
- Such a mammal that is in the family Cervidae.
- One of the smaller animals of the family Cervidae, distinguished from a moose or elk.
- The meat of such an animal, obtained through the process of hunting or from specialized deer farms; venison.
- Any animal, especially a quadrupedal mammal as opposed to a bird, fish, etc.
- Villages in Aberdeenshire, Scotland: See New Deer and Old Deer.
- A township in Roseau County, Minnesota, United States.
- An unincorporated community in Osage County, Missouri, United States.
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
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”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk dyr (“animal, beast”), Icelandic dýr (“animal, beast”). Related also to Albanian dash (“ram”) (possibly), Lithuanian daũsos (“upper air; heaven”), Lithuanian dùsti (“to sigh”), Russian душа́ (dušá, “breath, spirit”), Lithuanian dvė̃sti (“to breathe, exhale”), Sanskrit ध्वंसति (dhvaṃsati, “he falls to dust”). For the semantic development compare Latin animālis (“animal”), from anima (“breath, spirit”).