bearer

Etymology

From Middle English berer, berere, from Old English berere (attested in Old English wæterberere (“waterbearer”)), equivalent to bear + -er.

noun

1. One who, or that which, bears, sustains, or carries.
2. Someone who helps carry the coffin or a dead body during a funeral procession.
   Nay, quoth he, on his swooning bed outstretch’d, If I may not carry, sure Ile ne’re be fetch’d, But vow though the cross Doctors all stood hearers, For one Carrier put down to make six bearers. 1645, John Milton, “Another on the same”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, both English and Latin, London: Humphrey Moseley, page 29
   The deep shadows of the porch swallowed up priest, corpse and bearers […] 1934, Dorothy L. Sayers, “A Full Peal of Grandsire Triples”, in The Nine Tailors, London: Victor Gollancz, published 1975, Part 3
3. One who possesses a cheque, bond, or other notes promising payment.
   I promise to pay the bearer on demand.
4. A person employed or engaged to carry equipment on a safari, expedition, etc.
5. A person employed to carry a palanquin or litter.
6. (India, dated) A domestic servant in charge of household goods and clothing; a valet.
   The bar of the watch-guard worked through the buttonhole, and the watch—Platte's watch—slid quietly on to the carpet; where the bearer found it next morning and kept it. 1888, Rudyard Kipling, “Watches of the Night”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio, published 2005, page 60
7. (India) A waiter in a hotel or restaurant.
8. A tree or plant yielding fruit.
   a good bearer
   In the common mode of pruning, this species of vine is no great bearer; but managed as it is here, it produces wonderfully. 1791, William Gilpin, Remarks on Forest Scenery: and Other Woodland Views, London: R. Blamire, Volume 1, Book 1, Section 6, p. 149
9. (dated) Someone who delivers a letter or message on behalf of another (especially as referred to in the letter or message).
   1784, Samuel Johnson, letter cited in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, London: Charles Dilly, Volume 2, p. 487, Sir, The bearer is my godson, whom I take the liberty of recommending to your kindness […]
10. (printing) A strip of reglet or other furniture to bear off the impression from a blank page.
11. (printing) A type or type-high piece of metal interspersed in blank parts to support the plate when it is shaved.