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 ). Cf. -ary, -er 2 , -ier 2 .
[ -ier (OF -arius -ARY as suffix of personal nouns); in some nouns r. earlier suffixes (see ENGINEER, CHARIOTEER) or the F suffix -aire -AIRE (see MUSKETEER, VOLUNTEER) ]