bier

/bɪə/

//bɪə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bier" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bier” is uncommon English (frequency #55,279 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,279
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A litter to transport the corpse of a dead person.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bier · bier · English

bier · rank #55,279 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #55,279
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bibliographic…

Nearest frequency peer: bibliographical (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “bier”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “bier” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bier
PropertyValue
Headwordbier
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bɪə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#55,279
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “bier” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).bierfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “bibliographical” (#55,278), “bih” (#55,280), “biannual” (#55,277). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bier” is #55,279. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bier is uncommon English at frequency #55,279 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /bɪə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for bier in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English beer, beere, bere, from Old English bēr, (West Saxon) bǣr (“stretcher, bier”), from Proto-West Germanic *bāru, from Proto-Germanic *bērō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Beere (“stretche… The correct English form is bier, spelled B-I-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A litter to transport the corpse of a dead person.
  2. 2
    A platform or stand where a body or coffin is placed.
  3. 3
    A count of forty threads in the warp or chain of woollen cloth.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bier appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. They bore him bare-faced on the bier.
  2. On April 5, 1925, Chiang Kai-shek returned from the First Eastern Expedition to the Whampoa Military Academy to officiate at a funeral service for Sun Yat-sen, who had died in Peking on March 12. Huang Chi-lu, then a young professor of political science at the University of Kwangtung and destined to become director of the Kuomintang Archives some forty ye…

Etymology

From Middle English beer, beere, bere, from Old English bēr, (West Saxon) bǣr (“stretcher, bier”), from Proto-West Germanic *bāru, from Proto-Germanic *bērō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Beere (“stretcher, bier”), Dutch baar (“bier”), German Bahre (“bier, stretcher”). More at bear.

This word in other languages

camilla(Español)civière(Français)Bahre(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bier"?
"bier" is spelled B-I-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /bɪə/.
What does "bier" mean?
As a noun, "bier" means: A litter to transport the corpse of a dead person.
How do you pronounce "bier"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bier" is /bɪə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bier"?
From Middle English beer, beere, bere, from Old English bēr, (West Saxon) bǣr (“stretcher, bier”), from Proto-West Germanic *bāru, from Proto-Germanic *bērō, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Beere ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bier", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ards#55,243chih#55,323amas#55,230agen#55,222

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list