peer2

noun

• 1a member of the nobility in Britain or Ireland, comprising the ranks of duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron: hereditary peers could still dominate the proceedings of the House of Lords

In the British peerage, earldoms and baronies were the earliest to be conferred; dukes were created from 1337, marquesses from the end of the 14th century, and viscounts from 1440. Such peerages are hereditary, although since 1958 there have also been non-hereditary life peerages. All peers were entitled to a seat in the House of Lords until 1999, when their number was restricted to 92 as an interim reform measure

• 2a person of the same age, status, or ability as another specified person:he has incurred much criticism from his academic peers

verb

• make or become equal with: [no object]:the Thames could not peer with the mill-streamlet close to my home [with object]:of Homer it is said that none could ever peer him for poetry