It means someone who does. Paint-er.. Photograph-er... Lead-er...
What Does The Suffix -er Mean At The End Of A Word?
The suffix –er is most commonly used in forming nouns designating persons from objects of their labor or occupation, for ex. Hatter; tiller; moon shiner etc, or from their place of origin, for ex. Icelander; villager; southerner etc.
It also designates either persons or things from some unique characteristic or circumstance, for ex. Six footer; three-master; teetotaler etc. the suffix –er also serves as the regular English formative of agent nouns as it can be attached to verbs of any origin, for ex. Bearer; creeper; employer; teacher etc.
It also designates either persons or things from some unique characteristic or circumstance, for ex. Six footer; three-master; teetotaler etc. the suffix –er also serves as the regular English formative of agent nouns as it can be attached to verbs of any origin, for ex. Bearer; creeper; employer; teacher etc.
Finest
The suffix -er is both agentive (baker, singer, etc.) and instrumental (cover, slipper, mower). It is also a regular West Germanic suffix for denoting one's city of origin, as in Hamburger, New Yorker, Berliner, Londoner, Wiener (person from Vienna), and so forth. This is my special interest, but don't forget it is also the suffix for a comparative adjective, as in juicier, funnier, etc.
Literature on the topic usually pairs -er with -ster, as though -er were the husband and -ster the wife. In truth, -er was masculine grammatically, but -ster was never grammatically or physically feminine. English -er is said to come from Proto-Germanic *-ar-ja or *ar-jaz, and this is easier to see if you know Icelandic or Swedish or Old High German (mastari ~ mästare ~ magistári, admittedly not the best example since this actually is a Latin borrowing). Scholars for two centuries have believed that every particle of a word in Indo-European once had its own meaning, and this suffix pretty much displays enough evidence to show once and for all that some word particles, morphemes, are just plain meaningless even if they are productive or common.
Literature on the topic usually pairs -er with -ster, as though -er were the husband and -ster the wife. In truth, -er was masculine grammatically, but -ster was never grammatically or physically feminine. English -er is said to come from Proto-Germanic *-ar-ja or *ar-jaz, and this is easier to see if you know Icelandic or Swedish or Old High German (mastari ~ mästare ~ magistári, admittedly not the best example since this actually is a Latin borrowing). Scholars for two centuries have believed that every particle of a word in Indo-European once had its own meaning, and this suffix pretty much displays enough evidence to show once and for all that some word particles, morphemes, are just plain meaningless even if they are productive or common.
Turns a noun into an occupation ex.: Farm is a noun farmer is a person who farms ext.