-eer

a noun-forming suffix occurring originally in loanwords from French (buccaneer; mutineer; pioneer) and productive in the formation of English nouns denoting persons who produce, handle, or are otherwise significantly associated with the referent of the base word (auctioneer; engineer; mountaineer; pamphleteer); now frequently pejorative (profiteer; racketeer).

Compare -ary, -er² , -ier² .

Origin

< French, Middle French -ier (Old French < Latin -ārius -ary as suffix of personal nouns); in some nouns replacing earlier suffixes (see engineer, charioteer) or the French suffix -aire -aire (see musketeer, volunteer)

British Dictionary definitions for -eer

-eer

suffix

(forming nouns) indicating a person who is concerned with or who does something specified: auctioneer, engineer, profiteer, mutineer

(forming verbs) to be concerned with something specified: electioneer

Word Origin

from Old French -ier, from Latin -arius-ary

Word Origin and History for -eer

suffix meaning "one who" (operates, produces, deals in); anglicized form of French -ier, from Latin -arius, -iarius; cf. -ary.