1. In its original use the suffix -ārjo-z was added (like Latin -ārius) to nouns, forming derivative nouns with the general sense ‘a man who has to do with (the thing denoted by the primary noun)’, and hence chiefly serving to designate persons according to their profession or occupation; e.g. Gothic dômareis, Old Norse dômari judge, < Germanic *dômo- judgement, doom n.; Gothic bôkareis, Old English bócere scribe, < Germanic *bôk- book n.; Old High German sangâri (modern German sänger), Old Norse sǫngare, Old English sangere (Middle English songere) singer, < Germanic *sangwo- song n.¹ Of this type there are many specially English formations, e.g. hatter, slater, tinner. Where the primary noun ends in -w:—Middle English -ȝe:—Old English -ge, the suffix assumes the form -yer (in Middle English -iere, -yere), as in bowyer, lawyer, sawyer; and, either after the analogy of these or by assimilation to French derivatives in -ier (see -er suffix²), it appears as -ier suffix in certain other words of Middle English date, as brazier, clothier, collier, glazier, grazier, hosier. The English words of this formation not referring to profession or employment are comparatively few: examples are bencher, cottager, outsider, villager. With these may be compared a class of words chiefly belonging to modern colloquial language, and denoting things or actions, as header, back-hander, fiver, out-and-outer, three-decker. A special use of the suffix, common to the modern Germanic languages though scarcely to be found in their older stages, is its addition to names of places or countries to express the sense ‘a native of’, ‘a resident in’, e.g. Londoner, New Yorker, Icelander. With similar notion, derivatives in -er have been formed upon certain English adjectives indicating place of origin or residence, as foreigner, northerner, southerner.

2. Most of the nouns which in early Teutonic gave rise to derivatives in -ārjo-z, also gave rise to weak verbs in -jan or -ôjan, to which the former stood related in sense as agent nouns; thus Gothic dômareis judge, served as the agent noun to dômjan to judge. Hence, by analogy, the suffix came to be regarded as a formative of agent nouns, and with this function it was added to verbal bases both of the weak and the strong conjugation. Many derivatives of this type existed already in Old English, and many more have been added in the later periods of the language. In modern English they may be formed on all verbs, excepting some of those which have agent nouns ending in -or, and some others for which this function is served by nouns of different formation (e.g. correspond, correspondent). The distinction between -er and -or as the ending of agent nouns is purely historical and orthographical; in the present spoken language they are alike pronounced /ə(r)/, except that in law terms and in certain Latin words not fully naturalized, -or is still sounded /ɔː(r)/. In received spelling, the choice between the two forms is often capricious, or determined by other than historical reasons. The agent nouns belonging to verbs < Latin participial stems, and to those formed with -ate suffix¹, usually end in -or, being partly adoptions from Latin, and partly assimilated to Latin analogies. But when the sense is purely agentive, without any added notion such as that of office, trade, or profession, function, etc., -er is often used; cf. inspector n., respecter n.; projector, rejecter. In a few instances both forms of the agent noun are still in current use, commonly without any corresponding distinction in sense, as asserter, assertor; sometimes with a distinction of technical and general sense (often however neglected) as accepter, acceptor. The Romanic -our, -or of agent nouns has been in most cases replaced by -er where the related verb exists in English; exceptions are governor, conjuror (for which -er also occurs); in special sense we have saviour, but in purely agentive sense saver. In liar, beggar, the spelling -ar is a survival of the occasional Middle English variant -ar(e. The agent nouns in -er normally denote personal agents (originally, only male persons, though this restriction is now wholly obsolete); many of them, however, may be used to denote material agents, and hence also mere instruments; e.g. blotter, cutter, poker, roller, etc.

3. In several instances -er has the appearance of being an unmeaning extension of earlier words ending in -er denoting trades or offices. Most of these words are of French origin, as caterer, †cytolerer (= citoler n.), †fermerer, †feuterer, fruiterer, poulterer; an analogous case in a native word is upholsterer. The real formation of these words is obscure: some are probably from verbs, while in other cases formation on words in -ery may be conjectured.

4. After the analogy of astrologer n., astronomer n., the suffix -er is used to form nouns serving as adaptations of Latin types in -logus, -graphus; e.g. chronologer, philologer, †theologer; biographer, geographer, orthographer.Philosopher (in Chaucer and Gower always philoˈsophre) is perhaps not a formation of this kind, as the r may be merely excrescent. In chorister, sophister, barrister (cf. Middle English legistre) the -er is not a suffix, but results from an Anglo-Norman substitution of -istre for -iste, perhaps on the analogy of ministre.

1. Middle English -er, representing. Old French -er:—Latin -ārem, -ar: see -ar suffix¹. Nearly all the Middle English words ending in -er of this origin have been refashioned after Latin, so that the suffix is now written -ar: see examples under -ar suffix¹. The older form of the suffix is retained in sampler.

2. Middle English -er, < Anglo-Norman -er (Old French -ier) in nouns which descend from Latin forms in -ārius, -ārium (see -ary suffix¹), or which were formed in French after the analogy of those so descending. Where the Latin type of the suffix is the masc. -ārius, it has usually the sense ‘a person connected with’, and the words are designations of office or occupation, as butler, carpenter, draper, grocer, mariner, officer. (So also in a few Middle English adoptions of Old French feminine nouns in -iere:—Latin -āria, as chamberer, lavender.) Where the suffix represents the Latin neuter -ārium, the sense is ‘a thing connected with’, ‘a receptacle for’, as in antiphoner, danger, garner, etc.

3. In modern English -er appears as a casual representative of various other suffixes of Old French origin which have been weakened in pronunciation to /ə(r)/; thus in border, bracer, it stands for Old French -ëure (:—Latin -ātūram), commonly represented by -ure suffix¹; in laver it stands for Old French -ëor, now -oir (:—Latin ātōrium), in Middle English rendered -our suffix. The agentive suffix -our suffix (Old French -ëor:—Latin -ātōrem) is now very often replaced by -er; it can seldom be determined whether this is due to phonetic weakening, or to the substitution of -er suffix¹ for its Romanic synonym. Where the same word had in 14th cent. the two forms -our and -er(e, as chaungeour, changer, the former supposition is excluded; but the forms in -er(e may possibly sometimes be < Old French nominative forms in -ere:—Latin -ˈātor.

2. In adverbs. The Old English form of the comparative suffix was -or, corresponding to Old Saxon, Old High German -ôr, Gothic -ôs:—Germanic -ôz. Germanic had also a suffix -iz with the same function, corresponding to Latin -is in magis, nimis, and cognate with Latin -ior of adjectives; it is represented by Gothic -is, Old Norse -r with umlaut; in Old English by the umlaut in monosyllabic comparatives like lęng:—*langiz longer, bęt:—*batiz better, which died out in early Middle English, being superseded by the adjective forms. The relation between the two Germanic suffixes is much disputed: a widely-held hypothesis is that -ôz is < -ô adverbial suffix + -iz. The adverbs which take -er in the comparative are chiefly those which are now identical in form with adjectives (either representing. Old English adverbs in -e, or modern adverbial uses of the adjective): e.g. ‘to work harder’, ‘to stand closer’. Exceptional instances are oftener, seldomer, sooner. The adverbs in -ly suffix² are now compared periphrastically with more, though in earlier writers the inflectional comparison is common, e.g. easilier = more easily, Middle English entierlocure = more entirely; in poetry it still occurs, as in keenlier (Tennyson).

The ending of certain Anglo-Norman infinitives used substantively as law terms, e.g. cesser, disclaimer, misnomer, trover, user, waiver. Of similar origin is the ending in dinner, supper, from Old French disner, soper.

Forming frequentative verbs. The verbs of this formation which can be traced in Old English have the form -rian (:—Germanic -rôjan); e.g. clatrian clatter v., flotorian flutter v. The other Germanic languages have many verbs of this type, denoting repeated action; often they are < verbal bases, as Middle High German wanderen = Old English wandrian wander v. < Germanic *wandjan wend v.¹, Old Norse vafra waver v. < vafa = wave v.; sometimes apparently on onomatopœic bases, as Old High German zwizarôn = twitter v.¹ Further examples in English are batter, chatter, clamber, flicker, glitter, mutter, patter, quaver, shimmer, shudder, slumber.