Rear the Back and Rear a Child Are Different Words
The rear is the back part. A separate rear means to bring up or to rise on hind legs.
The rear is the back part of something; to rear is to bring up young, or for a horse to rise on its hind legs. These are separate words. The back comes from Old French *rere*, from Latin *retro*, backwards, and gives *rearguard* and *arrears*. The verb is Old English *ræran*, to raise, the causative form of *rise* — so rearing a child is literally raising one, and a rearing horse is raising itself. *Rear* meaning the buttocks is a nineteenth-century politeness for *rear end*.
- The back. *The rear of the building.*
- To bring up. *Rearing children.*
- To rise up. *The horse reared.*
- Rearguard. *A rearguard action.*
- Latin — *retro*, backwards. *The back sense.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | rear | The rear. |
| Verb | rear | Rearing. |
| Adjective | rearward | Rearward. |
| Related | arrears | In arrears. |
| Old English | ræran | To raise. |
- Park at the rear.Position.
- She reared four children.Raising.
- The horse reared up.Rising.
Causative pairs in English
- Rise and rear — to go up, to make go up
- Sit and set — to be seated, to place
- Lie and lay — to recline, to put down
- Fall and fell — to drop, to cut down
- Drink and drench — to swallow, to make swallow
The back is Old French *rere*, from Latin *retro*. The verb is Old English *ræran*, to raise.
Is rearing a child related to the rear of a car?
No. One means to raise, from an Old English verb; the other means the back, from Latin retro.
What is a causative pair?
Two related verbs where one means to do something and the other to make it happen, like rise and rear.