Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PEER, n. [Fr. pair; L. par; It. pari; Sp. par. See Pair.]

1. An equal; one of the same rank. A man may be found far with his peers.
2. An equal in excellence or endowments. In song he never had his peer. – Dryden.
3. A companion; a fellow; an associate. He all his peers in beauty did surpass. – Spenser.
4. A nobleman; as, a peer of the realm; the house of peers so called because noblemen and barons were originally considered as the companions of the king, like L. comes, count. In England, persons belonging to the five degrees of nobility are all peers.