Peepul tree
(Pee"pul tree`) [Hind. pipal, Skr. pippala.] (Bot.) A sacred tree (Ficus religiosa) of the
Buddhists, a kind of fig tree which attains great size and venerable age. See Bo tree. [Written also
pippul tree, and pipal tree.]
Peer
(Peer) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Peered ; p. pr. & vb. n. Peering.] [OF. parir, pareir equiv. to F.
paraître to appear, L. parere. Cf. Appear.]
1. To come in sight; to appear. [Poetic]
So honor peereth in the meanest habit.
Shak.
See how his gorget peers above his gown!
B. Jonson. 2. [Perh. a different word; cf. OE. piren, LG. piren. Cf. Pry to peep.] To look narrowly or curiously or
intently; 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.
Coleridge. Peer
(Peer), n. [OE. per, OF. per, F. pair, fr. L. par equal. Cf. Apparel, Pair, Par, n., Umpire.]
1. One of the same rank, quality, endowments, character, etc.; 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 comrade; a companion; a fellow; an associate.
He all his peers in beauty did surpass.
Spenser. 3. A nobleman; a member of one of the five degrees of the British nobility, namely, duke, marquis, earl,
viscount, baron; as, a peer of the realm.
A noble peer of mickle trust and power.
Milton. House of Peers, The Peers, the British House of Lords. See Parliament. — Spiritual peers, the
bishops and archibishops, or lords spiritual, who sit in the House of Lords.
Peer
(Peer) v. t. To make equal in rank. [R.] Heylin.
Peer
(Peer) v. t. To be, or to assume to be, equal. [R.]
Peerage
(Peer"age) n. [See Peer an equal, and cf. Parage.]
1. The rank or dignity of a peer. Blackstone.
2. The body of peers; the nobility, collectively.
When Charlemain with all his peerage fell.
Milton. Peerdom
(Peer"dom) n. Peerage; also, a lordship. [Obs.]
Peeress
(Peer"ess), n. The wife of a peer; a woman ennobled in her own right, or by right of marriage.
