noun
dere
deer
noun
1
(archaic) Harm, injury, or hurt.
"The old ballad speaks of a knight who suffered great dere in battle."
verb
1
(archaic) To injure or wound someone.
"None dared dere the king's messenger."
2
(archaic) To trouble, annoy, or cause grief to someone.
"She would not let his cruel words dere her spirit."
How to Use Dere
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishAn old word for hurting or troubling someone; rarely used outside historical or poetic writing today.
When to use it
Archaic — you will mostly meet this in medieval or early English texts, not modern speech.
Word Forms
dered past tense, deres plural, deres singular
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The old ballad speaks of a knight who suffered great _____ in battle.
Etymology
From Old English dæru ("injury, harm, loss"), tracing back to a very old Germanic root meaning damage — a distant relative of similar words in Old High German and Sanskrit.