-ier

variant of -er¹, usually in nouns designating trades: collier; clothier; furrier; glazier.

Origin:
Middle English -ier(e), variant of -yer(e) (cf. -yer), equivalent to -i- v. stem ending + -ere -er¹, probably reinforced by Old French -ier < Latin -ārius -ary (cf. soldier)

Dictionary.com Unabridged

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 ).

Origin:
< French, Old French < Latin -ārius, -āria, -ārium -ary; cf. -aire, -eer, -er²

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To -ier

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-ier is always a great word to know.

So is gobo. Does it mean:

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Collins

World English Dictionary

-eer or -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

[from Old French -ier, from Latin -arius-ary]

-ier or -ier

—*suffix*

[from Old French -ier, from Latin -arius-ary]

-ier

—*suffix forming nouns*
	a variant of -eer : brigadier

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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