offer

/ˈɔːfə/AW-fur

/ˈɔfɚ/AW-fur

Meaningto bring near

Common meaning: hold out to be taken

oftowards, nearSkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 356 · scan
ferto bear, bringLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 737 · scan

‘towards, near’ + ‘to bear, bring’ → offer

Journey through time

of — Latin ob- “towards, near” (path traced)
fer — Latin ferō, tulī, lātum “to bear, bring” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as offerre.

Latinob- + ferre‘towards, near + to bear, bring’source
Latinofferre‘to offer’source
Old Englishoffriansource B&T
Englishoffer‘hold out to be taken’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin offerre, which Skeat analyses as ob- ‘towards, near’ + ferre ‘to bear, bring’.

Roots

ferō, tulī, lātum Latin “to bear, bring”
offerre Latin “to bring near”

Related words

confer conifer differ indifference infer nontransferable prefer suffer

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