beer

Etymology 1

From Middle English bere, from Old English bēor (“beer”) (Oxford OED notes: "rare, except in poetry"), from Proto-West Germanic *beuʀ, from Proto-Germanic *beuzą (“beer”) (putatively from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeusóm), meaning “brewer's yeast”. However, also see the "beer" entry on OED (viz.), which links a connection to Vulgar Latin *biber (“a drink, beverage”), from Latin bibere (“to drink”). Samuel Johnson in his famous 18th-century A Dictionary of the English Language guessed it was from (unattested) Welsh *bîr; he distinguished it in his time from ale — the ancient usual word — by beer being older-aged and/or smaller. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Bjoor, West Frisian bier, German Low German Beer, Dutch bier, German Bier, Icelandic bjór (“beer”).

noun

1. (uncountable) An alcoholic drink fermented from starch material, commonly barley malt; often with hops or some other substance (like gruit) to impart a bitter flavor.
   Beer is brewed all over the world.
   “[…] the awfully hearty sort of Christmas cards that people do send to other people that they don't know at all well. You know. The kind that have mottoes like Here's rattling good luck and roaring good cheer, / With lashings of food and great hogsheads of beer. […]” 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 1, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
2. (uncountable) A fermented extract of the roots and other parts of various plants, as spruce, ginger, sassafras, etc.
3. (uncountable) A solution produced by steeping plant materials in water or another fluid.
4. (countable) A glass, bottle, or can of any of the above beverages.
   I bought a few beers from the shop for the party.
   Can I buy you a beer?
   I'd like two beers and a glass of white wine.
5. (countable) A variety of the above beverages.
   Pilsner is one of the most commonly served beers in Europe.
   I haven't tried this beer before.

verb

1. (informal, transitive) To give beer to (someone)
   No doubt he then can feed us, wine us, beer us, And cook us something that can warm and cheer us. 1870, Sidney Daryl, His First Brief. A Comedietta in Clement Scott, Drawing-room Plays and Parlour Pantomimes, Robson and Sons, pages 303–304
   “Beer me!” said Goody. “Also your weed is shit. Where’s the good stuff, dude?” 2010, Steve Brezenhoff, The Absolute Value of -1, Carolrhoda Lab, page 121
   I heard Patty Marsh yelling, ‘Beer him, Eleanor!’ 2013, Janet E. Cameron, Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World, Hatchette Books Ireland, page 124
   “Beer me!” To his astonishment she obeyed his command, appearing a minute later with a glass of beer and a wry smile. 2013, R. D. Power, Forbidden, page 39

Etymology 2

table From Middle English beere, equivalent to be + -er.

noun

1. (nonstandard) One who is or exists.
   That meant, among other things, that he was going to be a fast-moving doer. And even when he was three or four, it wasn't hard for me to know that this wasn't going to be easy. Because Albert was a beer. Born that way. 1990, Budge Wilson, “Be-ers and Doers”, in The leaving, and other stories