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terrier

Pronunciation: /ˈtɛɹiə/

The English word “terrier” has 5 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A dog from a group of small, lively breeds, originally bred for the hunting of burrowing prey such as rats, rabbits, foxes, and even otters; this original function is reflected in some of their names (e.g. rat terrier).
  2. Someone displaying terrier-like qualities such as determined pursuit.
  3. A collection of acknowledgments of the vassals or tenants of a lordship, containing the rents and services they owed to the lord, etc.
  4. An inventory (book or roll) in which the lands of private persons or corporations are described by their site, boundaries, number of acres, etc.; a terrar.
  5. An auger or borer.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French, from Old French chien terrier (“terrier dog”), from chien (“dog”) + Old French terrier (“of earth”, adjective), from Medieval Latin terrarius (“of earth”), from Latin terra (“earth”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.