-ier

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

-ier,² suffix. 

1. -ier is attached to nouns or roots to form nouns with the meaning "person or thing that does (the action of the word mentioned);
   person or thing in charge of (the word mentioned)'':
   finance + -ier → financier (= person doing finance);
   cour- (= run) + -ier → courier (= messenger);
   hotel + -ier → hotelier (= person in charge of hotels).

Compare -er¹.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

-ier,¹ 

1. var. of -er ¹, usually in nouns designating trades:
   collier;
   furrier;
   glazier.

• Latin -ārius -ary (compare soldier)
• Middle English -ier(e), variant of -yer(e) (compare -yer), equivalent. to -i- verb, verbal stem ending + -ere -er¹, probably reinforced by Old French -ier

-ier,² 

1. a noun suffix occurring mainly in loanwords from French, often simply a spelling variant of -eer, with which it is etymologically identical (bombardier;
   brigadier;
   financier;
   grenadier);
   it is also found on an older and semantically more diverse group of loanwords that have stress on the initial syllable (barrier;
   courier;
   courtier;
   terrier). Recent loanwords from French may maintain the modern French pronunciation with loss of the final r sound (croupier;
   dossier;
   hotelier).

• Latin -ārius, -āria, -ārium -ary; compare -aire, -eer, -er²
• French, Old French

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

-ier suffix:forming_nouns

1. a variant of -eer: brigadier

Etymology: from Old English -ere -er¹ or (in some words) from Old French -ier, from Latin -ārius -ary

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

-eer, suffix. 

1. -eer is used to form nouns with the meaning "the person who produces, handles, or is associated with'' the base word:
   engine + -eer → engineer (= person handling an engine).

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

-eer, -ier suffix

1. (forming nouns) indicating a person who is concerned with or who does something specified: auctioneer, engineer, profiteer, mutineer
2. (forming verbs) to be concerned with something specified: electioneer

Etymology: from Old French -ier, from Latin -arius -ary