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ear

noun

  1. organ that detects sound; organ of hearing and balance
  2. grain-bearing tip part of the stem of a cereal plant
L3535 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈɪə̯/ / [ˈɪː] / [ˈiːə]

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *h₂éḱos Proto-Germanic *ahaz Proto-West Germanic *ahaʀ Old English ēar Middle English er English ear From Middle English er, ere, from Old English ēar (Northumbrian dialect æhher), from Proto-West Germanic *ahaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *ahaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”). Cognate with Dutch aar, German Ähre, and West Frisian ier; also Latin acus (“needle; husk”), Tocharian B āk (“ear, awn”), and Old Church Slavonic ость (ostĭ, “wheat spike, sharp point”). More at edge.

  1. The fruiting body of a grain plant.

    He is in the fields, harvesting ears of corn.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English eren, from Old English erian, from Proto-West Germanic *arjan, from Proto-Germanic *arjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erh₃- (“to plough”).

  1. To plough.

    That power I have, discharge; and let them go To ear the land that hath some hope to grow, For I have none.

    And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley