pier
/pɪə/noun
pier is spelled P-I-E-R: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “peer vs pier” about 390 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, pier means “A raised platform built from the shore out over water, supported on piles; used to secure, or provide access to shipping; a jetty” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pier is piers.
How many letters and syllables are in pier?
| Letters | 4: P-I-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.6 times per million words; the 9,313th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is pier?
Pier appears 6.6 times per million words in written English, the 9,313th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pier?
- UK /pɪə/
- British /pɪː/
- British /pɪjə/
Pier has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pier.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with pier
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: peer (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with pier?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pier from its last stressed vowel (/ɪə/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ripe, peri.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of pier
- piers plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pier mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A raised platform built from the shore out over water, supported on piles; used to secure, or provide access to shipping; a jetty.
Your boat is docked at the pier.
- 2
A similar structure, especially at a seaside resort, used to provide entertainment.
There is a gaming arcade on the pier.
- 3
A structure supporting the junction between two spans of a bridge.
- 4
A rectangular pillar, or similar structure, that supports an arch, wall or roof, or the hinges of a gate.
- 5
A long corridor-like building with multiple gates extending from an airport terminal.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pier in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | jetée , ponton , pile , pilier |
| German | Seebrücke, Anlegestelle, Kai , Steg, Bootssteg , Brückenpfeiler |
| Portuguese | píer, cais, trapiche , pilar , pilastra |
| Spanish | muelle, embarcadero, malecón , pilar (de puente) , pilar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does pier come from?
Inherited from Middle English pere (“bridge pillar, breakwater”), from either Anglo-Norman pere (“stone”, from Latin petra) or Old French *piere (Old Northern French pire, from either Late Latin *petricus or pēra "satchel"); compare Medieval Latin pira.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).