were
EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-Germanic *wēz-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
stressed
- (UK) enPR: wûr, IPA(key): /wɜː(ɹ)/
- (UK, regional) enPR: wâr, IPA(key): /wɛə(ɹ)/
- (US) enPR: wûr, IPA(key): /wɝ/
- (Ireland, also) enPR: wär, IPA(key): /wɑːɹ/
- Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)
- Homophone: whirr (in accents with the wine-whine merger)
unstressed
- (UK) enPR: wər, IPA(key): /wə(ɹ)/
Audio (London) (file)
- (US) enPR: wər, IPA(key): /wɚ/
Audio (US) (file)
- Homophone: we're
VerbEdit
were
- second-person singular simple past indicative of be
- John, you were the only person to see him.
- first/second/third-person plural simple past indicative of be
- We were about to leave.
- Mary and John, you were right.
- They were a fine group.
- They were to be the best of friends from that day on.
- first/second/third-person singular/plural simple present/past subjunctive of be
- I wish that it were Sunday.
- I wish that I were with you.
- 2011 November 3, David Ornstein, “Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- Maccabi would have been out of contention were it not for Stoke's profligacy, but their fortune eventually ran out as the visitors opened the scoring.
- (Northern England) first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
SynonymsEdit
- (second-person singular past indicative, archaic) wast (used with “thou”)
- (second-person singular imperfect subjunctive, archaic) wert (used with “thou”)
See alsoEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English were, wer, see wer.
NounEdit
were (plural weres)
- Alternative form of wer (“man; wergeld”)
- 1799-1805, Sharon Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons
- Every man was valued at a certain sum, which was called his were.
- 1867, John Lingard, T. Young, Introduction to English History [...] arranged [...] by T. Young, page 19:
- If by that he failed to pay or give security for the were, or fine, at which murder was legally rated; he might be put to death by the relatives of the murdered man.
- 1908, Frederic Jesup Stimson, The Law of the Federal and State Constitutions of the United States, page 13:
- Written statutes busied themselves only with the amount of the were, or fine, or (for the first century after the Conquest) with the method of procedure.
- 2004, James Fitzjames Stephen, A General View of the Criminal Law of England, →ISBN, page 12-13:
- The consequence of conviction was, the payment to the person injured, of a were, or penalty, proportioned to the offencel but though this was the ordinary course, the recovery of the were was not the only object of the proceedings. "The were," says Reeve, "in cases of homicide, and the fines that were paid in cases of theft of various kinds, were only to redeem the offender from the proper punishment of the law, which was death, and that was reddemable, not only by paying money, but by undergoing some personal pains; hence it is that we hear a great variety of corporal punishments..."...
- 1799-1805, Sharon Turner, History of the Anglo-Saxons
Etymology 3Edit
Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).
NounEdit
were (plural weres)
- (fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.
AnagramsEdit
DutchEdit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
were
AnagramsEdit
FijianEdit
NounEdit
were
VerbEdit
were (wereca)
IrarutuEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
NounEdit
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
Further readingEdit
- Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics)
Maku'aEdit
NounEdit
were
ReferencesEdit
- Aone van Engelenhoven, The position of Makuva among the Austronesian languages of Southwest Maluku and East Timor, in Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: a festschrift, Pacific linguistics 601 (2009)
Middle EnglishEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Old English wǣre (second-person singular indicative and subjunctive past of wesan).
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
were
- inflection of been:
DescendantsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From weren.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
were (uncountable)
DescendantsEdit
ReferencesEdit
- “wēre, n.(4).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3Edit
From a conflation of Old English wǣron and Old English wǣren.
VerbEdit
were
- Alternative form of weren
Etymology 4Edit
From Old English werre, wyrre.
NounEdit
were
- Alternative form of werre
MwaniEdit
NounEdit
were class 5 (plural mawere)
Northern KurdishEdit
VerbEdit
were
OninEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
NounEdit
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
Tocharian BEdit
EtymologyEdit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
NounEdit
were ?
ToroEdit
NounEdit
were
ReferencesEdit
- Roger Blench, The Toro language of Central Nigeria and its affinities (2012)
UruangnirinEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
NounEdit
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
YolaEdit
Alternative formsEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English were.
NounEdit
were
Related termsEdit
- waare (“to wear”)
ReferencesEdit
- Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 77
YorubaEdit
Alternative formsEdit
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
wèrè
Derived termsEdit
- #Sọ̀rọ̀SókèWèrè (“2020 anti police brutality hashtag”)
- aṣápẹ́-fún-wèrè-jó àti wèrè, ọgbọọgba ni wọ́n (“one who claps for a lunatic to dance is no better than the lunatic”)
- ebi ni yóò kọ́ wèrè lọ́gbọ́n (“it is hunger that will force sense into the fool”)
- sọ̀rọ̀ sókè wèrè (“phrase derived from the hashtag”)
- ṣiwèrè (“to go mad”)
- wèrè la fi ń wo wèrè (“fight fire with fire”)
- wèrè ló pọ̀ jù nínú yín (“your madness is too much”)
- ya wèrè (“to go mad”)
DescendantsEdit
- → Nigerian Pidgin: werey