Peer

n. [O. Fr. peer, per, par, N. Fr. pair, Pr. & Sp. par, It. pari, from Lat. par, equal.] 1. One of the same rank, quality, endowments, character, or the like; an equal; a match; a mate. In song he never had his peer. Dryden. Shall they consort only with their peers? I. Taylor. 2. A contemporary; a comrade; a companion; a fellow; an associate. He all his peers in beauty did surpass. Spenser. 3. A nobleman; as, a peer of the realm; the house of peers, so called because noblemen and barons were originally considered equally sovereign with the king. In England, persons belonging to the five degrees of nobility are all peers. “A noble peer of mickle trust and power.” Milton. ☞ The bishops who sit in the House of Lords are called spiritual peers.

v. i. [imp. & p. p. PEERED; p. pr. & vb. n. PEERING.] [Norm. Fr. perer, O. Fr. parer, parir, pareir, paroir, equivalent to N. Fr. paraître, Fr. parer, It. & Lat. parere. Cf. APPEAR.] 1. To come just in sight; to appear. [Poet.] “Like a proud river peering o’er its bounds.” Shak. So honor peereth in the meanest habit. Shak. See how his gorget peers above his gown! B. Jonson. 2. To rise and look over a hiding or intervening object; to look narrowly, curiously, or sharply; to peep; as, the peering day. Milton. Peering in maps for ports, and piers, and roads. Shak. As if through a dungeon grate he peered With broad and burning face. Coleridge.