rear

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English

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 rear on Wikipedia

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English reren (“to raise”), from Old English rǣran (“to raise, set upright, promote, exalt, begin, create, give rise to, excite, rouse, arouse, stir up”), from Proto-West Germanic *raiʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *raizijaną, *raisijaną (“to cause to rise, raise”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to lift oneself, rise”).

Cognate with Scots rere (“to construct, build, rear”), Icelandic reisa (“to raise”), Gothic 𐍂𐌰𐌹𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (raisjan, “to cause to rise, lift up, establish”), German reisen (“to travel”, literally “to rear up and depart”); and a doublet of raise. More at rise.

Related to rise and raise, which is used for several of its now archaic or obsolete senses and for some of its senses that are currently more common in other dialects of English.

Alternative forms

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Verb

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rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

A rearing horse (3).
  1. (transitive) To bring up to maturity, as offspring; to educate; to instruct; to foster.
    • 1694, Thomas Southerne, Isabella: Or The Fatal Marriage:
      He wants a father to protect his youth, and rear him up to virtue.
  2. (transitive, said of people towards animals) To breed and raise.
    The family has been rearing cattle for 200 years.
  3. (intransitive) To rise up on the hind legs
    The horse was shocked, and thus reared.
  4. (intransitive, usually with "up") To get angry.
  5. (intransitive) To rise high above, tower above.
  6. (transitive, literary) To raise physically or metaphorically; to lift up; to cause to rise, to elevate.
    Poverty reared its ugly head. (appeared, started, began to have an effect)
    The monster slowly reared its head.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
      In adoration at his feet I fell Submiss; he reared me.
    • 1835, Lord Lytton, Rienzi, the Last of the Roman Tribunes:
      Mine [shall be] the first hand to rear her banner.
  7. (transitive, rare) To construct by building; to set up
    to rear defenses or houses
    to rear one government on the ruins of another.
  8. (transitive, rare) To raise spiritually; to lift up; to elevate morally.
    • 1700, Isaac Barrow, Of Industry...:
      It reareth our hearts from vain thoughts.
  9. (transitive, obsolete) To lift and take up.
  10. (transitive, obsolete) To rouse; to strip up.
    • 1684, John Dryden, The Second Epode of Horace:
      And seeks the tusky boar to rear.
Usage notes
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  • It is standard US English to raise children, and this usage has become common in all kinds of English since the 1700s. Until fairly recently, however, US teachers taught the traditional rule that one should raise crops and animals, but rear children, despite the fact that this contradicted general usage. It is therefore not surprising that some people still prefer to rear children and that this is considered correct but formal in US English. It is widespread in UK English and not considered formal.
  • It is generally considered incorrect to rear crops or (adult) animals in US English, but this expression is common in UK English.
Synonyms
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  • (rise up on the hind legs): prance
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English rere, from Anglo-Norman rere, ultimately from Latin retro. Compare arrear. Doublet of retro.

Adjective

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rear (not comparable)

  1. Being behind, or in the hindmost part; hindmost
    the rear rank of a company
    sit in the rear seats of a car
Antonyms
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Translations
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Adverb

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rear (not comparable)

  1. (British, dialect) early; soon
    • 1714, John Gay, The Shepherd's Week:
      Then why does Cuddy leave his cot so rear!

Noun

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rear (plural rears)

  1. The back or hindmost part; that which is behind, or last in order.
    Antonym: front
  2. (military) Specifically, the part of an army or fleet which comes last, or is stationed behind the rest.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, line 78:
      When the fierce Foe hung on our brok'n Rear
  3. (anatomy) The buttocks or bottom.
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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the posterior, butt(ocks)- only terms with directional notion
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb

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rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

  1. To place in the rear; to secure the rear of.
  2. (transitive, vulgar, British) To sodomize (perform anal sex)
Derived terms
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Terms derived from rear (adjective and noun)

Etymology 3

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From Middle English reren, from Old English hrēran (“to move, shake, agitate”), from Proto-Germanic *hrōzijaną (“to stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱroHs- (“to mix, stir, cook”). Cognate with Dutch roeren (“to stir, shake, whip”), German rühren (“to stir, beat, move”), Swedish röra (“to touch, move, stir”), Icelandic hræra (“to stir”).

Alternative forms

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Verb

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rear (third-person singular simple present rears, present participle rearing, simple past and past participle reared)

  1. (transitive) To move; stir.
  2. (transitive, of geese) To carve.
    Rear that goose!
  3. (regional, obsolete) To revive, bring to life, quicken. (only in the phrase, to rear to life)
    He healeth the blind and he reareth to life the dead.
    (Speculum Sacerdotale c. 15th century)
Usage notes
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References
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Etymology 4

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From Middle English rere, from Old English hrēr, hrēre (“not thoroughly cooked, underdone, lightly boiled”), from hrēran (“to move, shake, agitate”), from Proto-Germanic *hrōzijaną (“to stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱroHs- (“to mix, stir, cook”). Related to Old English hrōr (“stirring, busy, active, strong, brave”), Dutch roeren (“to stir, shake, whip”), German rühren (“to stir, beat, move”), Swedish röra (“to touch, move, stir”), Icelandic hræra (“to stir”).

Alternative forms

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Adjective

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rear (comparative rearer or more rear, superlative rearest or most rear)

  1. (now chiefly dialectal) (of eggs) Underdone; nearly raw.
  2. (chiefly US) (of meats) Rare.
    • 2017, Dr. Ardeshir Irani, Short Tales of the Old Wild West:
      Fred ordered a rear steak along with a glass of beer as he took a seat at an empty table
Derived terms
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Anagrams

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Latin

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Verb

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rear

  1. first-person singular present active subjunctive of reor

Swedish

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Verb

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rear

  1. present indicative of rea

Anagrams

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