Bearer

How to spell bearer

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce bearer

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bearer mean?

1. nounA person who carries, holds, or presents something.
2. nounThe holder of a financial instrument that is payable to whoever physically presents it, rather than to a named person.

Bearer in a sentence

• The bearer of this letter is authorised to collect the parcel on my behalf.

• The cheque was made payable to the bearer, so anyone holding it could cash it.

• As the standard bearer he walked at the front of the procession holding the flag.

• A bearer bond pays interest to whoever physically presents the coupon.

Where does bearer come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English verb beran, meaning 'to carry, to bring, or to give birth to', which is part of the deep Germanic core of English and is related to similar verbs across the Germanic languages. To this ancient verb English added the agent suffix -er, which turns a verb into a word for the person or thing that performs the action, giving 'one who carries'. The verb 'bear' has carried an unusually wide range of meanings over the centuries, from physically carrying a load to enduring hardship to producing fruit or offspring, and 'bearer' has followed it into many of those uses. The same root sits behind related words such as 'burden' (originally something borne) and 'birth'. The spelling keeps the 'ear' cluster of 'bear', which is exactly why it is easy to confuse with 'barer', the unrelated word meaning 'more bare'.

How the word is built

• bear (Old English beran: to carry)
• -er (agent suffix: one who does)