# bier

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɪə/ · frequency rank #55,279

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

## 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.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bier