Peer

[peer] /pɪər/

noun
1.
a person of the same legal status:
a jury of one’s peers.
2.
a person who is equal to another in abilities, qualifications, age, background, and social status.
3.
something of equal worth or quality:
a sky-scraper without peer.
4.
a nobleman.
5.
a member of any of the five degrees of the nobility in Great Britain and Ireland (duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron).
6.
Archaic. a companion.
[peer] /pɪər/
verb (used without object)
1.
to look narrowly or searchingly, as in the effort to discern clearly.
2.
to peep out or appear slightly.
3.
to come into view.
/pɪə/
noun
1.
a member of a nobility; nobleman
2.
a person who holds any of the five grades of the British nobility: duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron See also life peer
3.

4.
(archaic) a companion; mate
/pɪə/
verb (intransitive)
1.
to look intently with or as if with difficulty: to peer into the distance
2.
to appear partially or dimly: the sun peered through the fog
n.

c.1300, “an equal in rank or status” (early 13c. in Anglo-Latin), from Anglo-French peir, Old French per (10c.), from Latin par “equal” (see par (n.)). Sense of “a noble” (late 14c.) is from Charlemagne’s Twelve Peers in the old romances, who, like the Arthurian knights of the Round Table, originally were so called because all were equal. Sociological sense of “one of the same age group or social set” is from 1944. Peer review attested by 1970. Peer pressure is first recorded 1971.
v.

“to look closely,” 1590s, variant of piren (late 14c.), with a long -i-, probably related to or from East Frisian piren “to look,” of uncertain origin. Influenced in form and sense by Middle English peren (late 14c.), shortened form of aperen (see appear). Related: Peered; peering.
networking
A unit of communications hardware or software that is on the same protocol layer of a network as another. A common way of viewing a communications link is as two protocol stacks, which are actually connected only at the very lowest (physical) layer, but can be regarded as being connected at each higher layer by virtue of the services provided by the lower layers. Peer-to-peer communication refers to these real or virtual connections between corresponding systems in each layer.
To give a simple example, when two people talk to each other, the lowest layer is the physical layer which concerns the sound pressure waves travelling from mouth to ear (so mouths and ears are peers) the next layer might be the speech and hearing centres in the people’s brains and the top layer their cerebellums or minds. Although, barring telepathy, nothing passes directly between the two minds, there is a peer-to-peer communication between them.
(2007-03-27)
1.
Performance Efficiency Evaluation Report
2.
Program for Extraordinary Experience Research