▪ I. † pier, n.1 Obs. rare.
[a. OF. piere, pierre stone:—L. petra, Gr. πέτρα rock.]
A stone: in fraunche pier, F. franche pierre, freestone; precious pier, F. pierre précieuse, precious stone.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 4356 Ne nouthire housing we haue, ay quils we here duell Bot at is fetid of flesch & of na fraunche piers. Ibid. 5270 Onycles & orfrays & orient perles..with þire precious piers of paradise stremes. |
▪ II. pier, n.2 (
pɪə(r))
Forms: 2–4
per, 4–8
pere, 5–8
peer, (6
piere,
pyre,
pyerre), 6–7
peere,
peir,
pire, (8
peor), 6–
pier.
[In 12th c. per, rendering med.L. pera (prob. pēra), of unknown origin. It was suggested by Lambard, Spelman, and Du Cange, that
pera was derived from
OF. piere or L.
petra stone, but this satisfies neither the phonetics nor the signification. There is an
OF. (Picard and Flamand) word
pire (rarely
piere Godef.), meaning a breakwater or barricade of piles, a weir on a river, a boom defending a harbour, which might
perh. have given the sense, but it is difficult to equate the form with
pēra and
pēr.]
1. One of the supports of the spans of a bridge, whether arched or otherwise formed.
(Appears in 12th c. and then not till end of 14th; examples not numerous till 17th c.)
| c 1150 Rochester Bridge-bote Charter in Birch Cart. Sax. III. 657 Primum ejusdem civitatis episcopus incipit operari in orientali brachio [pontis] primam peram de terra: deinde tres virgatas planeas ponere, & tres sulinas .i. tres magnas trabes supponere... Secunda pera pertinet ad gillingeham & de cætham [etc.]. Ibid. 659 [OE. version] ærest þære burᵹe biscop fæhð on þone earm to wercene þa land peran & þreo ᵹyrda to þillianne, & iii sylla to lyccanne... Ðonne seo oþer per ᵹebyrað to gyllingeham & to Cætham [etc.; nine examples of per]. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1682 Sixty pers [error for arches, F. xxx ars] þar buþ þar-on þat buth grete & rounde. Ibid. 1684 Oppon ech pere þar stent a tour [F. x breteques y a, chascune sor piler] enbataild wyþ queynte engynne. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 394/1 Pere, or pyle of a brygge, or other fundament, pila. 1624 Wotton Archit. in Reliq. (1651) 238 Pilasters must not be..too Dwarfish and grosse, lest they imitate the Piles and Peers of Bridges. 1718 Rowe tr. Lucan iv. 24 A stable Bridge runs cross from Side to Side,..And jutting Peers the wint'ry Floods abide. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) III. 133 The harbour of Puzzuolo..is formed by fourteen piers, or pilasters, rising above the surface of the water, which were anciently joined together by arches. 1761 Brit. Mag. II. 333 Tuesday, June 23. The first stone of the first pier of Black-Friars bridge, was laid. a 1842 Arnold Later Hist. Rome (1846) II. xii. 419 The emperor Hadrianus..took away all the upper part of the bridge, and left merely the piers standing. 1866 Brande & Cox Dict. Sc. II. 902/2 An abutment pier in a bridge is that next the shore; and, generally, this is made of a greater mass than the intermediate piers. |
2. a. A solid structure of stone, or of earth faced with piles, extending into the sea or a tidal river to protect or partially enclose a harbour and form a landing-place for vessels; a breakwater, a mole; in modern times, also of iron or wood, open beneath and supported on columns or piles, forming a pleasure promenade and place of resort, or combining this purpose with that of a landing-place; also, a projecting landing-stage or jetty on the bank of a river or lake, as the piers on the Thames in London.
| [1390 Pat. Roll 14 Rich. II, ii. m. 44 Concessimus vobis in auxilium construccionis cuiusdam pere per vos iam nouiter pro saluacione et defensione nauium et batellorum in Conuerso vocato Crowemere.] 1453 in W. Rye Cromer (1889) 56 note, [Will of John Bound, leaving] sustentacioni fretisfragii alias vocati le pere viij.s. 1487 Ibid., [Will of Rich. Fenne] emend' le peer [3s 4d]. 1511 Regist. Mag. Sig. Reg. Scot. (1882) 764/1 Rex..concessit preposito [etc.] burgi de Edinburgh..le Newhavin..libertate, et spatio, ad edificandum et prolungandum munitionem, viz. le pere et bulwark ejusdem. 1515 Aberdeen Regr. (1844) 94 To the reparatioun and biggin of thar common peir and key. 1530 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 300 (Will of J. Ledum, Whitby) Also to the peir, if it go furthwardes, xls. 1530–1 in Chron. Calais (Camden) 123 Also the pere that standeth in the Fishers gapp, must be new made. 1545 Act 37 Hen. VIII, c. 14 (Preamble) Shippes Bootes and Vesselles..within the Key or Peere in the Haven of Scardburghe. 1546 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 39 To pass to the mercat croces of Edinburgh..Quenisferrie, pere and schore of Leith, Dunde,..and uthair places neidfull. 1551 in W. Rye Cromer (1889) 57 The same Inhabytantes hathe..defended the same by makyng of grete peeres. 1559 Acts Privy Council (1893) VII. 82 Sent to Dovour to vieu..the state of the blacke Bulwerke and pyerre there. 1559 Contn. Fabyan's Chron. vii. 706 The toune of Lithe also, and the hauen and pire destroied. 1572 J. Bossewell Armorie ii. 65 The mole or pere whiche Alexander the great had caused to bee made agaynste the citie of Tyre. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. x. 26 b, There is a certain Piere or recife wheron the sea doth beat. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. iii. iii, Our Castle, our cinque-Port, Our Douer pire. 1626 Bacon Sylva §658 Timber..some are best for..Peers, that are sometimes Wet and some-times dry. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Peere,..seems properly to be a Fortress made against the force of the Sea. 1677 Otway Cheats of Scapin ii. i, We went to walk upon the Pier. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 52 There wants a Peor, as at Whitby and Burlington. 1721 Perry Daggenh. Breach 33 He then resolv'd to square and compleat his Jetties, or Peers. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 121 To carry out a Pier into the Sea in order to fortifie a Port. 1823 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I. 239, I have been all the morning on the Chain Pier [Brighton], which is delicious. 1852 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 160 They..offered to land us at any pier we liked. 1884 Pae Eustace 119 The boats to be at the pier at noon. |
| transf. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 161 This [beaver] dam, or pier, is often four score or an hundred feet long, and ten or twelve feet thick at the base. 1853 Phillips Rivers Yorks. iv. 143 Nature has run out immoveable piers of hard lias shale with a long deep channel between them. |
† b. transf. A haven.
Obs.| a 1552 Leland Itin. (1711) II. 60 [This] makith the Fascion of an Havenet, or Pere, whither Shippelettes sumtime resorte for socour. Ibid. III. 9 The Pere [at Pendinas] is sore chokid with Sande. 1600 Holland Livy xxviii. vi. 671 It maketh a shew of a double peere or haven [portus], opening upon two divers mouths, but in very truth, ther is not..a worse harborogh, & a more daungerous rode for ships. 1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 239 The cittie..hath also a pere in itselfe for small barkes; at full sea it may have some sixe or seaven foote water, but at low water it is drie. 1721 Perry Daggenh. Breach 110 Preventing the rolling of the Beach from choaking up the Entrance into the Peer. Ibid. 114 Scowering away the Beach from the Mouth of the Peer. |
3. Arch. and
Building. A solid support of masonry or the like designed to sustain vertical pressure:
a. A square pillar or pilaster;
b. The solid masonry between doors, windows, or other openings in a wall;
c. Each of the pillars from which an arch springs;
d. Each of the pillars or posts of a gate or door;
e. A solid structure of masonry or ironwork supporting a telescope or other large instrument.
| 1663 Gerbier Counsel 44 So must well proportioned window-cases be,..that the peeres of Brick or Stone between them, will fall to be of a fit width. 1666 Act 18 & 19 Chas. II, c. 8 §6 That there shall be Partie walls and Partie peeres sett out equally on each Builders ground. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Peer..also a solid Wall between two Doors or Windows; also a sort of square Pillar. 1710 J. Harris Lex. Techn. II, Peers, in Architecture, are a kind of Pilasters or Buttresses for Support, Strength, and sometimes Ornament. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Greenhouse, The Front [of a greenhouse] towards the South should be all of Glass,..there ought to be no Peers of Brick-work, or Timber in the glaz'd Part, for they cast more Shade into the House. 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 291 The mode, now commonly adopted, of constructing arches between piers of stone. 1836 Parker Gloss. Archit. (1845) I. 283 Pier,..this name is often given to the pillars in Norman and Gothic architecture, but not very correctly. 1842–76 Gwilt Archit. §2734 The composition..of gates and their piers. 1870 F. R. Wilson Ch. Lindisf. 140 The Saxon [tower] lay in ruins, save the piers. 1879 Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. iii. 135 The piers destined to bear several arches divide themselves into as many columns as there are arches. 1883 Knowledge 15 June 357/2 To mount to the top of the pier and lubricate..the joints of the giant [telescope]. |
f. transf. and
fig.| 1611 in Gutch Coll. Cur. I. 113 By the King's summons to the parliament..as piers and strong rocks in the common⁓wealth. 1889 J. M. Duncan Clin. Lect. Dis. Women xxii. (ed. 4) 188 It lies between the posterior pier of a labium and the adjoining tuber ischii. |
† 4. Short for
pier-glass.
Obs. rare.
| 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) II. 49, I dashed the piers and jars to shivers. |
5. attrib. and
Comb., as (in sense 2)
pier-crane,
pier-fishing,
pier-man,
pier-master,
pier-shed,
pier-warden; (in sense 3)
pier-mullion,
pier-order,
pier-stone;
pier-supported adj.;
pier-arch, an arch springing from piers; so
pier-arcade;
pier-cap, the cap of a gate-pier;
pier-looking-glass,
-mirror = pier-glass;
† pier-reeve, the officer in charge of a pier, a pier-master;
pier-stake, one of the columns or piles on which a pier is supported;
pier-table, a low table or bracket occupying the space between two windows, often under a pier-glass.
| 1879 Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. I. 117 The triforium was united with the *pier-arcade. |
| 1842–76 Gwilt Archit. Gloss., *Pier Arch, an arch springing from a pier. 1843 Ecclesiologist II. 51 A single arch of the same breadth as the pier-arch. |
| 1897 Daily News 3 June 3/3 Charged..with wilfully damaging a *pier-cap. |
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 22 Oct. 5/3 At South Shields the *pier-crane was washed away. |
| 1745 De Foe's Eng. Tradesman xxii. (1841) I. 207 Two large *pier looking-glasses, and one chimney-glass are in the shop. |
| 1897 Westm. Gaz. 30 Nov. 5/2 One *pierman..declared..that last night was the highest tide he had known. |
| 1936 J. Grierson High Failure ii. 27, I slept in the *piermaster's cottage in order to be as near my machine as possible. 1971 Daily Tel. 16 July 7/1, I liked the pier⁓master, pompous but human in nautical beard and gold braid. 1976 Southern Even. Echo (Southampton) 11 Nov. (Advt. Suppl.) 12/7 Fairey Yacht Harbours Pier Master required for yacht harbour. |
| 1863 O. W. Norton Army Lett. (1903) 185 *Pier mirrors twenty feet high on three sides of the room. 1969 Sears Catal. Spring/Summer 1295, 2-piece pier table and mirror set. |
| 1901 P. M. Johnson in Archæol. Jrnl. Mar. 64 The east window consists of two broad lancets divided by a wide *pier-mullion. |
| 1879 Sir G. G. Scott Lect. Archit. II. 76 An arch-order may be moulded or otherwise decorated, while the corresponding *pier-order may remain square. |
| 1591 Replication in Rye Cromer (1889) p. lviii, He was lately *Pereive of the said Peire. Ibid. p. lix, Perereves. |
| 1927 Joyce On Beach at Fontana in Pomes Penyeach, Wind whines and whines the shingle, The crazy *pierstakes groan. 1955 A. Ross Australia 55 ix. 122 Watching schools of parrot fish and pike twist among the pier-stakes. |
| 1667 Primatt City & C. Build. 68 *Peer-stones on both sides the Building, fronting high and principal Streets. |
| 1803 M. Wilmot Let. 25 July in Russ. Jrnls. (1934) i. 24 A *pier table furnish'd with splendid Gilt China cups and saucers ‘wisely kept for shew’. 1856 Mrs. Hawthorne in N. Hawthorne & Wife (1885) II. 90 In front of a golden pier-table over which hung a vast mirror. 1952 J. Gloag Short Dict. Furnit. 361 (caption) Pier glass and pier table, designed as a decorative unit. 1979 W. J. Burley Charles & Elizabeth v. 81 A pair of carved and gilded pier tables with mirrors above. |
| 1657 in Sussex Archæol. Coll. (1862) XIV. 96 That all persons..bring the same [timbers, etc.] unto the *Peere Wardens. |
Add:
[2.] c. A long narrow structure projecting from the main body of an airport terminal, containing passenger boarding gates and loading stations.
Cf. finger n. 8 c.
| 1958 Times 30 May 7/6 Aircraft can taxi to the..900 ft. long glazed pier..which stretches out from the terminal to provide completely enclosed passenger access. 1968 New Scientist 26 Sept. 640/2 There will be..a moving walkway along the pier to the two terminals [at Heathrow Airport]. 1976 Times 27 Jan. 2/8 Concorde Alpha Alpha..left its pier exactly on time..but turned back before it reached the take-off runway. 1980 Guardian Weekly 21 Sept. 29/4 The latest expansion programme has..provided..a third aircraft pier to handle long-haul flights. The three piers can handle..a total of 32 aircraft. |
▪ III. pier, v. rare.
(
pɪə(r))
[f. pier n.2] a. trans. To provide with a pier.
b. intr. To reach
out like a pier.
| 1857 Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. VIII. 731 If they can coax Uncle Sam to pier the outlet of that Lake and make it a splendid harbor for navigable purposes. 1951 W. Sansom Face of Innocence iii. 25 Above them the curved glass cupola..that goes piering out over the garden. |