Word
bauer
Phoneticsbauer
/ˈbaʊɝ/
Definitions
01German farmer
n. a traditional name for a German farmer or peasant.
n. a German peasant or agricultural labourer, often used in historical or sociological discussions of Central European feudalism.
“The history book described the life of a typical bauer in the eighteenth century.”
“The socio-economic status of the bauer shifted significantly following the land reforms of the early nineteenth century.”
Formal · Archaic
Usage
Often capitalised in German, but usually lowercase when used as a common noun in English historical texts.
Teaching tip
This is a very rare word in modern English outside of academic history or genealogy.
02card games
n. the name for the jack in certain card games like Euchre.
n. the jack of the trump suit or the other suit of the same colour in games such as Euchre.
“He won the hand because he held the right bauer.”
“In a game of Euchre, the right bauer is the highest-ranking card, followed immediately by the left bauer.”
Technical · Dialect
Usage
Commonly used in the context of specific trick-taking card games.
Teaching tip
Learners will likely only encounter this in specific regions where games like Euchre or Pinochle are popular.
Synonyms
Etymology
* As a German and Jewish surname, from German Bauer (“farmer”). Compare Bower. * Also as a German and Jewish surname, from the obsolete Middle High German noun (ge)būr (“neighbour”), from Old High German bur (“dwelling”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/bauer