Where does “-er” come from?

-er (German) comes from Old High German -āri, from Proto-West Germanic -ārī, from Proto-Germanic -ārijaz, from Latin -ārius, from Proto-Italic *-āzios — Forms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals).

-er (German): Forms agent nouns etc. from verbs, suffixed to...

Definitions

  1. Forms agent nouns etc. from verbs, suffixed to...

Ancestry of “-er”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old High German-āriused to form agent nouns
2Proto-West Germanic-ārī-er
3Proto-Germanic-ārijaz-er
4Latin-āriuser
5Proto-Italic*-āziosForms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals)

Words derived from “-er

Every word from Proto-Italic *-āzios
-er — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer