Peer, n.
Etymology: [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.
3 other Webster entries under this spelling
Peer, v. i. [imp. & p.p Peered; p. pr. & vb. n. Peering.]
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. Etym: [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 v. t.
To make equal in rank. [R.] Heylin.
Peer v. t.
To be, or to assume to be, equal. [R.]