Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ER, n. [The termination of many English words, is the Teutonic form of the Latin or; the one contracted from wer, the other from vir, a man. It denotes an agent, originally of the masculine gender, but now applied to men or things indifferently; as in hater, farmer, heater, grater. At the end of names of places, er signifies a man of the place; Londoner is the same as London man. There is a passage in Herodotus, Melpomene, 110, in which the word wer, vir, a man, is mentioned as used by the Scythians; a fact proving the affinity of the Scythian and the Teutonic nation. Τας δε Αμαζονας καλεουσι οι Σκυθαι Οιορπατα. Δυναται δε το ουνομα τουτο κατ' 'Ελλαδα γλωσσαν ανδροκτονοι. Οιορ γαρ καλεουσι τον ανδρα, το δε πατα κτεινειν. “The Scythians call the Amazons Oiorpata, a word which may be rendered, in Greek, menkillers; for oior is the name they give to man, pata signifies to kill.” Pata, in the Burman language, signifies to kill; but it is probable that this is really the English beat; W. bachi, to kill.]