Heer

See also: heer

Alemannic German

Etymology

From Middle High German herre, from Old High German hērro (“master”), comparative of hēr (“gray-haired, old; noble, venerable”), from Proto-Germanic *hairaz (“gray; aged, old, distinguished”).

Cognate with German Herr (“Mr.; gentleman; master; Lord”), Dutch heer (“lord, master; gentleman”), English hoar (“greyish-white; antiquity”), Scottish Gaelic ciar (“swarthy, dark; gloomy, depressed”).

Noun

Heer m

1. (Uri, Christianity) pastor

References

• Abegg, Emil, (1911) Die Mundart von Urseren (Beiträge zur Schweizerdeutschen Grammatik. IV.) [The Dialect of Urseren], Frauenfeld, Switzerland: Huber & Co., page 24.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɦeːr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Heer
• Rhymes: -eːr
• Homophone: heer

Etymology 1

From heer (“lord”). The archaic form Here is also still in common use among Christians (whereas here is obsolete as a common noun).

Proper noun

Heer m

1. (Christianity) Lord, God

   Heer, ontferm U over ons. ― Lord, take pity on us.

   Here, zegen deze spijze. ― Lord, bless this meal.

Alternative forms

• Here, Heere

Derived terms

• Heer der heerscharen
• in de Heer zijn

 

Etymology 2

First attested as in heere in 1176. Derived from Old Dutch heri (“sandy ridge”). Formerly an independent village.

See also Limburgish Hier.

Proper noun

Heer n

1. A neighbourhood and former municipality of Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands

References

• van Berkel, Gerard, Samplonius, Kees (2018) Nederlandse plaatsnamen verklaard (in Dutch), Mijnbestseller.nl, →ISBN

German

Heer

Etymology

From Middle High German her, from Old High German heri, from Proto-West Germanic *hari, from Proto-Germanic *harjaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ker- (“war, struggle”).

Cognates include Old Norse herr (“crowd, troops”) (> Danish hær (“troops”))), Dutch heer (“army”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐍂𐌾𐌹𐍃 (harjis, “army, host”), Old English here (“army”). Relation to Sanskrit कुल (kula, “flock, herd, family”) has been theorised. False cognate of Spanish ejército, from Latin exerceo ("I exercise, I oversee").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /heːr/, [heːɐ̯], [hɛɐ̯]
• Rhymes: -eːɐ̯

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: her, hehr
• Homophone: Herr (common merger)

Noun

Heer n (strong, genitive Heeres or Heers, plural Heere)

1. (collective, military, in the plural) army (ground forces)

   Synonym: Landstreitkräfte

Declension

Declension of Heer [neuter, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	das	Heer	die	Heere
genitive	eines	des	Heeres, Heers	der	Heere
dative	einem	dem	Heer, Heere1	den	Heeren
accusative	ein	das	Heer	die	Heere

¹Now rare, see notes.

Derived terms

Derived terms

• Bundesheer (Austrian)
• Heerbann
• Heeresameise
• Heereszug
• Heerführer
• Heerlager
• Heerschar
• Heerstraße
• verheeren

Related terms

Related terms

• Harnisch
• Herberge
• Herold
• Herzog

See also

• Armee

Further reading

• “Heer” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “Heer” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “Heer” in Duden online
• “Heer” in OpenThesaurus.de
• Heer on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^de

Saterland Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian here, from Proto-West Germanic *hari. Cognates include West Frisian hear and German Heer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈheːr/
• Hyphenation: Heer
• Rhymes: -eːr

Noun

Heer n (plural Here)

1. army

References

• Marron C. Fort (2015) “Heer”, in Saterfriesisches Wörterbuch mit einer phonologischen und grammatischen Übersicht, Buske, →ISBN