were
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English were, weren, from Old English wǣre, wǣron, wǣren, from Proto-Germanic *wēzun, *wēzīn, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes-. More at was.
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
stressed
- (UK) enPR: wûr, IPA(key): /wɜː(ɹ)/
Audio (London) (file)
- (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
Verb edit
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.
- (MLE, Northern England) first/third-person singular simple past indicative of be.
Synonyms edit
- (second-person singular past indicative, archaic) wast (used with “thou”)
- (second-person singular imperfect subjunctive, archaic) wert (used with “thou”)
See also edit
Etymology 2 edit
From Middle English were, wer, see wer.
Noun edit
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, pages 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 3 edit
Back-formation from werewolf and other terms in were-, from the same source as English wer, were (“man”) (above).
Noun edit
were (plural weres)
- (fandom slang) The collective name for any kind of person that changes into another form under certain conditions, including the werewolf.
Anagrams edit
Dutch edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
were
Anagrams edit
Fijian edit
Noun edit
were
Verb edit
were (wereca)
Irarutu edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun edit
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
Further reading edit
- Cornelis L. Voorhoeve, Languages of Irian Jaya Checklist (1975, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics)
Maku'a edit
Noun edit
were
References edit
- 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 English edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Old English wǣre (second-person singular indicative and subjunctive past of wesan).
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
were
- inflection of been:
Descendants edit
Etymology 2 edit
From weren.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
were (uncountable)
Descendants edit
References edit
- “wēre, n.(4).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
Etymology 3 edit
From a conflation of Old English wǣron and Old English wǣren.
Verb edit
were
- Alternative form of weren
Etymology 4 edit
From Old English werre, wyrre.
Noun edit
were
- Alternative form of werre
Mwani edit
Noun edit
were class 5 (plural mawere)
Northern Kurdish edit
Verb edit
were
Onin edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun edit
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
Tocharian B edit
Etymology edit
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Noun edit
were ?
Toro edit
Noun edit
were
References edit
- Roger Blench, The Toro language of Central Nigeria and its affinities (2012)
Uruangnirin edit
Etymology edit
From Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *waiʀ, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wahiʀ.
Noun edit
were
- water (clear liquid H₂O)
Yola edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English were.
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /wiː/
- Homophones: wyer, waare
Noun edit
were
Related terms edit
- waare (“to wear”)
References edit
- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) 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, published 1867, page 77
Yoruba edit
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
wèrè
Derived terms edit
- #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”)
Descendants edit
- → Nigerian Pidgin: werey