Tier

• Thier (obsolete)

From Old High German tior, from Proto-Germanic *deuzą, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewsóm. Cognate with Danish dyr, Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐌿𐍃 (dius), Old Norse dýr, Swedish djur, English deer.

• IPA^(key): /tiːɐ̯/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːɐ̯

Tier n (genitive Tieres or Tiers, plural Tiere, diminutive Tierchen n or Tierlein n)

1. animal (see usage notes below)
   • 2010, Der Spiegel, issue 25/2010, page 140:

     Mit seinen 30 Meter Länge und mitunter mehr als 150 Tonnen Gewicht übertrifft der Blauwal jedes andere Tier auf Erden.

     With its length of 30 meters and weight of sometimes more than 150 tons the blue whale surpasses every other animal on Earth.

2. A person who has a quality thought of as animalistic, such as ferocity, strength, hairiness, etc.

   Wenn er getrunken hat, wird er zum Tier.

   When he’s had a drink, he turns into an animal.

3. (hunting jargon) hind (female red deer)

• Like English “animal”, German Tier has several possible scopes of meaning: Restriction to non-human land mammals is archaic. Restriction to non-human tetrapods is dated. The commonest contemporary use is that including all non-human animals. The inclusion of man is scientific, but also possible otherwise depending on the context.

• Biest

• Tier in Duden online