ear

Reading level: medium

Estimated CEFR level: A2 — Elementary

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the sense organ for hearing and equilibrium
  2. noun good hearing
  3. noun the externally visible cartilaginous structure of the external ear

Etymology

From Middle English ere, eare, from Old English ēare (“ear”), from Proto-West Germanic *auʀā, from the voiced Verner alternant of Proto-Germanic *ausô (“ear”) (compare Scots ere, er, eir, West Frisian ear, Dutch oor, German Ohr, Swedish öra, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål øre, Norwegian Nynorsk øyra), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ṓws (compare Old Irish áu, Latin auris, Lithuanian ausi̇̀s, Russian у́хо (úxo), Albanian vesh, Ancient Greek οὖς (oûs), and Old Armenian ունկն (unkn).

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